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SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 



CONSIDERATION 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 



Major D. H. HILL, 

PROFESSOR OF MATHEMATICS IN DAVIDSON COLLEQE, NORTH CAROLINA. 



PHILADELPHIA: 

WILLIAM S. & ALFRED MARTIEN, 

No. 608 Chestnut Street. 
1858. 







Entered according to Act of Congress rn-fch*_year 1858, by 

WILLIAM S. & ALFRED MARTIEN, 

In the Office of the Clerk of the District Court for the Eastern 
District of Pennsylvania. 



V 



«- 



9 



DEDICATED 



TO THE MEMORY 
OP 

MORRISON AND WILLIE HILL: 

WITH THE PRAYERFUL HOPE 

THAT THIS LITTLE BOOK MAY DO SOME OP THAT GOOD 

WHICH THEIR FOND PARENTS HAD HOPED 

THAT THEY WOULD HAVE DONE 

HAD THEY BEEN SPARED TO LABOUR 

IN THE VINEYARD OF 

THE LORD. 



SEKMON ON THE MOUNT 



More than eighteen centuries ago, an immense mul- 
titude assembled on a mountain in Galilee to hear 
Him, who "spake as never man spake," deliver that 
discourse which was to be the exponent of the new 
faith, and the unerring guide of his chosen people 
in all future time. 

The illustrious speaker looked right down into the 
hearts of his audience, and read their most secret 
emotions, their passions, their prejudices, yea, their 
very enmity and infernal designs against himself. 
He saw before him the sleek Scribe, the lawless Ga- 
darene, the canting Pharisee, and an unholy throng 
of every kindred, nation, tongue and people. The 
incarnate Deity turned away from gazing at the dark 
and malignant workings of the sinful hearts of the 
promiscuous assemblage, and addressed himself to the 
few devoted followers at his feet. "And when he 
was set, his disciples came unto him, and he opened 
his mouth and taught them." These few words 
furnish the key to unlock the casket, which contains 
jewels of such inestimable value, as to have drawn 
2 



6 CONSIDERATION OF TIIE 

from the illustrious Webster the acknowledgment that 
the richness and beauty of the gems sparkling 
through the Sermon on the Mount, proved them to 
belong to the treasury of heaven. Using the key 
thus furnished us by the evangelist, we trust to be 
able to show that this discourse of our blessed Re- 
deemer is addressed to his professed disciples, and is 
the most masterly specimen in any language, of close, 
compact reasoning — the whole sermon being made up 
of connected parts, as mathematically arranged as 
any proposition of Euclid or McLaurin, or any 
demonstration by Gamier or La Grange. 

A cursory examination of the sublime address 
found in the 5th, 6th, and 7th chapters of St. Mat- 
thew, is sufficient to show that it is addressed to 
Christians, and that it teaches them, 1st, what they 
are to be; this instruction being contained in seven 
verses, beginning with the third, and ending at the 
tenth of the oth chapter; 2d, what they are to ex- 
pect, shown from the tenth to the thirteenth verse; 
3d, what they are to do, shown from the thirteenth 
to the seventeenth verse; 4th, what they are not to 
be — not formalists, like the Scribes and Pharisees; 
the last division occupying the rest of the discourse. 

I. Seven verses, beginning with the third and end- 
ing with the ninth verse of the 5th chapter of St. 
Matthew, contain a full description of the character 
of the true child of God, and show the mode of his 
conversion. 

First of all, he must be "poor," not in worldly 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 7 

goods, but "in spirit" — humble, meek, lowly. He 
must feel that he is a poor, blind, miserable sinner, 
and yet that he has to deal with a holy God, who can- 
not look upon sin with the least allowance — a God 
who charges his sinless angels with folly, and in 
whose sight the very heavens are unclean. How else 
can the sinner feel his need of a Saviour? How else 
can he cry, "God be merciful to me a sinner?" 
How else can he wish to be clothed with Jesus 
Christ's perfect righteousness, and loathe the wretch- 
ed fig-leaf covering of his own good works? How 
else can he long for "the washing of regeneration 
and the renewing of the Holy Ghost?" 

Self-abasement and self-abhorrence must lie at the 
very foundation of the Christian character. The first 
step towards conversion must be a deep conviction of 
sin and misery. They that are whole need not a 
physician. They who fancy themselves in health, 
will not come to the healing waters, though an angel 
be sent from heaven to agitate them, and impart puri- 
fying and life-giving qualities. But the Naaman, who 
feels his own pollution, will bathe himself seven times 
at the suggestion of a simple child. Wisely then did 
Jesus make humility the corner-stone of his religion. 
In this respect, how widely different his teaching 
from that of the philosophers who preceded him! 
In their systems, pride, vanity and arrogance, with 
their necessary attendants, "emulation, wrath, strife," 
are not only not condemned as vices, but are posi- 



8 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

tively commended as virtues. An able writer* has 
shown how infinitely superior is the moral code of the 
lowly Nazarene, to the pernicious ethics of the sages 
of antiquity. The former teaches "to love our 
neighbour as ourselves," and that "charity is the 
bond of pcrfectness." The latter exalts self, and 
makes self-gratification and self-aggrandizement the 
great end of existence. The one system produces 
love, peace, joy; the other hatred, war, misery. But 
we go further than the accomplished apologist of the 
Christian religion alluded to; we contend that hu- 
mility is essential to success in every department of 
human effort. Let the farmer be too wise in his own 
conceit, to consult his neighbours, or read agricul- 
tural journals, and it is certain that his farm will be 
more prolific of briers, weeds and nettles, than of 
cereals, short-horns and south-downs. Let the physi- 
cian be too much puffed up with his own imagined 
skill, to consult the medical authorities, and it is plain 
that he will prove the most invaluable patron of the 
sexton and coffm-maker. Let the preacher trust to 
the illumination of his own supposed genius, rather 
than to the enlightening grace of the Spirit, and it is 
certain that Satan will have no more efficient auxili- 
ary. Let the soldier be too proud to study the prin- 
ciples of military science, and he will be but too 
likely to imitate the example of one of the mushroom 
generals of the Mexican war, and place his ditch on 

* Soanie Jenyns. 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 9 

the wrong side of the fortification.* Let the lawyer 
have too much confidence in his innate powers, to 
trouble himself with the ponderous volumes and musty 
maxims of the law, and the chances are that he will 
do as another has done — quote the Declaration of In- 
dependence as the very highest legal authority. 

We have heard a mathematician say, that after a 
somewhat extended experience as a teacher, he would 
far rather attempt to make a mathematician out of 
the rawest country bumpkin, who could not tell the 
day of the month by the almanac, than to teach the 
vainglorious malapert, who had studied all the Pikes, 
Goughs, and Bonnycastles in Christendom. Well 
did Solomon say, "Seest thou a man wise in his own 
conceit? there is more hope of a fool than of him." 
If then an humble and a teachable spirit is necessary 
to success in mere human enterprises, how much more 
essential is this lowly disposition, when heaven is to 
be won, a soul to be saved, and a God to be glorified? 
Many, like the deluded Laodiceans, think that they 
"are rich, and increased with goods, and have need 
of nothing," and know not that "they are wretched, 
and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." On 
the contrary, really holy men are always humble, and 
their humility is in exact proportion to the justness 
of their conceptions of the holiness and purity of 
God. Moses was the meekest of men, because of all 
mankind he had the nearest access to the great and 

* Many of our readers "will remember the celebrated entrench- 
ment at Camargo. 
2* 



10 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

terrible Jehovah. When Isaiah "saw the Lord high 
and lifted up," he cried, "Woe is me, for I am 
undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I 
live in the midst of a people of unclean lips." Job 
justified himself when he "heard of God by the hear- 
ing of the ear;" but when his "eyes saw him," he 
"abhorred himself, and repented in dust and ashes." 
Daniel was so holy that the Angel of the Covenant 
addressed him as a "man greatly beloved," and yet 
how did Daniel pray? — "0 Lord, righteousness 
belongeth unto thee: but unto us confusion of faces." 
The eagle, that gazes upon the great luminary of 
day, knows best how dark and sombre all else in 
nature is. The Christian, who looks upon the Sun 
of Righteousness, feels the darkness and degradation 
of his own benighted soul. The lark, scorning her 
humble seat upon the ground, seeks to soar aloft 
among the dazzling fields of light; but stunned and 
confounded by the brilliancy, she sinks back with 
humility and contentment upon her lowly nest. 

The 4th verse, "Blessed are they that mourn, &c." 
is beautifully connected with the 3d. The poverty 
of spirit that results from an apprehension of guilt 
and misery, naturally leads to mourning for sin. 
The awakened sinner now loathes and grieves over 
that which he loved and gloried in before. 

We do not mean to exclude in this interpretation 
mere worldly grief. For we are taught that "by the 
sadness of the countenance the heart is made better," 
and that "it is better to go to the house of mourning, 



SEKMON ON THE MOUNT. 11 

than to the house of feasting." And undoubtedly, 
temporal calamity, affliction, and bereavements, are 
instruments to wean us from the world, and bring 
back the affections to God. But in all correct expo- 
sition of Scripture truth, the leading idea is to be 
taken first; and beyond all question, the prominent 
thought in the 4th verse is grief and hatred of sin. 
The promise to the mourner is that he "shall be 
comforted." God himself will "wipe all tears from 
his eyes." We observe a wonderful adaptation of 
the blessings of the Creator to the necessities and 
wishes of the creature. The necessity of "the poor 
in spirit," is met with the riches and glories of "the 
kingdom of heaven." The wish of the mourning soul 
for pardon and peace, is met with the comfort, which 
the world cannot give, neither can it take away. 
Such is the law of God. We find it declared every 
where in the Bible, and manifested every hour in the 
dealings of his providence. 

The 5th verse, "Blessed are the meek, &c." is 
dependent upon the preceding. The man who feels 
and mourns over his own depravity, cannot be other- 
wise than "meek.* He cannot be turbulent, arro- 
gant, and supercilious. He cannot be relentless, 
implac#le, and unforgiving of the faults of others. 
The promise to this man is suited to his character: 
"He shall inherit the land." He shall dwell securely 
under his own vine and fig-tree. God has made 

* Of a quiet, gentle spirit. — Adam Clarke. 



12 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

"even his enemies to be at peace with him." But 
violence engenders violence, and he who "loves 
cursing, shall be clothed with it as with a garment." 
On the contrary, he who is too meek to contend even 
for his rights, has those rights secured to him by no 
less a being than the omnipotent God. We meet 
here again the unalterable law of Jehovah. Men 
work out their own happiness or their own misery. 

The 6th verse, "Blessed are they which do hunger 
and thirst after righteousness, &c," corresponds to 
the three preceding verses. The convinced, mourn- 
ing sinner, made meek and gentle by a sense of his 
own unworthiness, will hunger for righteousness — will 
thirst after holiness, "as the hart panteth after the 
water brooks." The promise is fitted to his desire. 
He "shall be filled." God deals with strict justice to 
all. He gives, as a general thing, to men that which 
they supremely desire and earnestly labour for. He 
who ardently pursues the world, will most usually 
become wealthy. "The hand of the diligent maketh 
rich." God will "give him his desire," but it may 
be that he will "send leanness into his soul." The 
studious generally become learned. The ambitious 
seldom fail to become distinguished, or at least noto- 
rious, which answers their purpose just ^ well. 
Above all, he who comes to Jesus with an honest and 
true heart, feeling weary and laden with sin, will in 
no wise be cast out. We have sometimes thought 
that it is this plan of God — this giving to men just 
what they covet, which gives such fearful import to 



SEKMON ON THE MOUNT. 13 

the words: "As I live, saith the Lord, every knee 
shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to 
God. So then, every one shall give account of him- 
self to God." In the great day of judgment, every 
knee must bow, and every tongue must confess the 
justice of that God, who has given to every man just 
that which he has coveted and sought to attain. If 
he have made this world his portion, he cannot com- 
plain though that world be in flames. He gained 
what he strove for. Let him be content. If he have 
neglected the salvation of his soul, he cannot call God 
unjust, though that soul be lost. He saved only what 
he valued; let him not impugn the justice of his 
Judge. 

The 7th verse, "Blessed are the merciful, &c," 
forms a harmonious sequel to the 6th. He who has 
been justified by a righteousness not his own; he who 
has found mercy, pardon, peace through the blood of 
the atonement, must feel welling up in his own bosom, 
pity, love, and compassion, even for the bitterest of 
his foes. 

In the 7th verse we have the first-fruits of the new 
life — the first assimilation of the sinner to the divine 
character. In the four preceding verses we have ex- 
hibited conviction of sin, (3d verse;) mourning for 
sin, (4th verse;) the meek teachable spirit under a 
sense of sin, (5th verse;) and lastly, the hungering 
and thirsting after righteousness, (6th verse.) The 
whole process of conversion is here described in exact 
conformity with the experience of every child of God. 



14 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

The 6th verse closes with the conversion; the 7th 
begins with the first display of new emotions and 
principles in the renewed man. He has now become 
a child of God, and as the son resembles the Father, 
so he now partakes of the divine nature, and is pre- 
pared to exercise mercy — the darling attribute of his 
heavenly Parent — that attribute, without which, the 
smoke of torment must rest for ever over everything 
bright and beautiful in the boundless universe of God. 
The exercise of mercy is the first act of the regene- 
rated soul. The whole Scriptures give us no surer 
test of genuine conversion than is here afforded. We 
see that the spirit of the new-born child of God is one 
of mercy and compassion towards his perishing fel- 
low-creatures. That repentance needs to be repented 
of, which does not lead immediately to the deepest, 
truest pity for those who are "without hope and with- 
out God in the world," and which does not prompt to 
earnest, persevering efforts for their conversion. 

The reward of the merciful man is peculiarly suited 
to his character. The mercy that he shows to others 
is shown to him. 

The 8th verse, "Blessed are the pure in heart, 
&c," is in natural sequence to the 7th. The first 
and easiest step in the divine life has been taken. 
The renewed man has now the more difficult task of 
restraining his depraved appetites and desires, and of 
overcoming his corruptions. His body is now the 
temple of the Holy Ghost, and must not be defiled. 
Every evil thought must be suppressed, every unholy 



SEKMON ON THE MOUNT. 15 

inclination subdued. No outward cleansing by a 
mummery of religious forms, but the attainment of 
holiness of heart must be the great end of his exist- 
ence. He who began the good work, fulfils it to the 
end. The Holy Spirit is sent to sanctify him, and 
the pure man has the promise of a blessed entrance 
into the presence of a God of purity. " He shall see 
God." He is now fitted for the society of the holy 
beings around the great white throne, and he has the 
assurance that he will make one of that bright throng. 
The highest attainment in the divine life has not yet 
been reached, and the highest reward is yet withheld. 
Mercy and purity are his, peace is yet to be attained 
— the peace that breathes "good will toward men," 
and prompts to healing their dissensions and recon- 
ciling their differences. When this highest grace is 
gained, the highest reward is given. He who had 
been merely admitted to "see God," is now declared 
his "child" a joint-heir with Jesus Christ to the "in- 
heritance incorruptible, undefined, and that fadeth not 
away." There is a noble climax in the Christian 
graces, and an equally noble rise in the scale of 
rewards. Mercy, purity, and the peaceful spirit, are 
rewarded with mercy, admittance to the presence of 
God, and finally, with being acknowledged as his 
child before the assembled universe. Man's ways are 
not as God's ways, and God's thoughts are not as our 
thoughts. The highest honours even in Christendom 
are given to warriors "with garments rolled in 
blood." Five military chieftains have been raised to 



16 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

supreme power in these United States. No civilian 
has been raised to the office of President in our sister 
Republic of Mexico. But, as we have seen, the high- 
est rewards of heaven are reserved for peace-makers. 
God chose Moses, the meekest and most unwarlike of 
men, to lead the hosts of Israel. Jesus Christ is the 
Prince of Peace. Angels heralded his birth with 
the song of "peace on earth, and good-will toward 
men." The great characteristic of his second reign 
is that "men shall then learn war no more," and that 
they "shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and 
their spears into pruning hooks." Peace is everywhere 
spoken of in the Scriptures as the crowning blessing 
of God to his people. The most cordial farewell of 
the Israelite to his departing guest was "go in 
peace." The great Apostle to the Gentiles, who had 
experienced the rude bufferings of a wrangling world, 
could breathe no warmer prayer for his friends than 
that the God of peace might be with them always. 
Even the turbulent Peter exhorted to "do good, seek 
peace, and ensue it." There is no sympathy in the 
Bible for the growling, grumbling, complaining, and 
contentious, who are ever ready to stir up strife and 
difficulties betw r een their neighbours. 

To sum up the whole discussion in the first divi- 
sion of our subject, we have from the 3d to the 7th 
verse, the unconverted state — the conviction of sin ; 
the sorrow for sin; the meek, gentle spirit, resulting 
from a sense of sin ; and the longing for a new nature. 
From the 7th to the 10th verse, we have the converted 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 17 

state, producing the graces of mercy, purity, and a 
peaceful spirit. 

We notice also the correspondence between the 
promise and the state of mind of the subject of 
promise. The poor in spirit is rewarded with the 
riches of heaven;* the mourner is comforted with the 
gospel of peace; the meek has secured to him those 
earthly possessions he is too gentle to contend for; 
the soul that longs for a new nature is clothed with 
Jesus' perfect righteousness; the merciful obtains 
mercy from the Judge of all the earth ; the pure in 
heart is permitted to see a God of purity; the peace- 
maker is acknowledged to be a child of the God of 
peace. 

II. What they are to expect. 

" Blessed are they which are persecuted for right- 
eousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 
Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and perse- 
cute you, and say all manner of evil against you, 
falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad; 
for great is your reward in heaven : for so persecuted 
they the prophets which were before you." 

They are to expect persecution, reviling, all manner 
of evil speaking. Under all these trials, they are to 
be concerned about two things only. First: That 
their lives should be so blameless as to render the 
accusations of their enemies groundless and false. 
Second: That a higher spirit than that of mere sub- 
mission is to be cultivated — "Rejoice and be exceed- 
ing glad." Acquiescence in the will of God is a 
3 



18 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

high attainment; but rejoicing, under the afflictive 
dispensations of his hand, is a grace. Philosophy 
has reached to the one, the other is the work of the 
Spirit. The gospel demands more than cold stoicism. 
None can mistake its teachings. "Giving thanks 
always, for all things, unto God and the Father, in 
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." " In every 
thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in 
Christ Jesus concerning you." 

Persecuted, afflicted, and cast down child of God ! 
talk not of submission. Uncomplaining Job did not 
dishonour his Maker, and "charge God foolishly." 
But the Lord utters his voice from amidst the thick 
darkness which envelopes his throne, "Whoso offereth 
praise glorifieth me." Suffering parent! hanging 
over the couch of a dying child, watching the colour 
fade from his cheek, the light grow dim in his eye; 
feeling the pulse grow more and more thread-like, 
until your tremulous finger can no longer distinguish 
it. Sufferer! do you then pray to be able to say, 
" The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away, 
blessed be the name of the Lord"? Rather pour out 
your heart in thankfulness to God that Jesus has 
conquered death, hell, and the grave. Rather praise 
him that your child has been taken from the evil to 
come. Duty would have awaited him here, praise 
will be his occupation there. The child has been 
called to the higher employment. Thank God for it. 

Two things deserve our special attention in the 
three verses, beginning with the 10th and ending 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 19 

■with the 12th. First: The disciples of Christ are to 
expect persecution under false charges and accusa- 
tions. The devil and his followers have never yet had 
the audacity and impudence to persecute virtue as 
such. They first blacken the character of the victim, 
and then harass, annoy, and persecute him to death. 
Jesus was crucified under the charge of blasphemy. 
Stephen was stoned to death under the same accusa- 
tion. Paul and Silas were scourged and cast into 
prison at Philippi, for troubling the city and teaching 
strange customs. Socrates, the wisest and purest of 
the philosophers of antiquity, was poisoned for intro- 
ducing new gods, and corrupting the youth. Daniel 
was cast into the den of lions, not for worshipping 
the true God, but for disobeying the king's decree. 
The Hebrew youth were thrown into the fiery furnace 
for the same reason. God has stamped so much of 
his own image upon our fallen race, that history 
records no instance of men being so depraved, as to 
persecute the righteous for their virtues, but always 
for alleged vices. The apostle truly declared, that 
" all who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer perse- 
cution." But the godly have always been persecuted 
as cheats, impostors, and hypocrites. 

Second : We notice that Jesus did not deceive his 
disciples. He did not disguise from them that they 
were to expect stripes, imprisonment, cruel mockings, 
reviling, and death. The strongest possible argu- 
ment can be drawn from this candour of the Son of 
God, as to the divine character of his mission. When 



20 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

men wish to allure others into an enterprise, they do 
not speak of its difficulties, dangers, hardships, and 
trials. Recruiting sergeants, with their drums and 
fifes, try to allure by "the pride, pomp, and circum- 
stance of war;" they never allude to the hot, weary 
marches, the dreary night-watches, the mangled 
limbs, and crushed carcasses of the battle-field. 
False religions have been ever profuse in promises 
of temporal well-being and eternal glory, won without 
holiness of heart and life. Mahomet promised riches, 
honours, sensual indulgence, and a passport to 
heaven, to all who followed the crescent, irrespective 
of their sins and pollutions. The Mormon Prophet 
promised wealth, ease, luxury, and licentious indul- 
gence, to all who would acknowledge him as their 
spiritual guide and temporal leader. Jesus Christ 
promised nothing to his disciples but trials and 
afflictions. Poverty, contempt, a life of shame, and 
a death of ignominy, were to be their lot and portion. 
How then are we to account for the amazing success 
of his mission? Upon what principle can we explain 
the rapid spread of the gospel? In thirty years 
after the death of Christ, the persecution began under 
Nero. The historian Tacitus speaks of "the great 
multitude" of Christians then at Rome. In forty 
years more, Pliny, the Roman governor of Pontus 
and Bithynia, wrote his celebrated letter to Trajan, 
the emperor. In it he complains that "the contagion 
of this superstition had seized not only the cities, but 
the less towns also, and the open country, so that 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 21 

the temples were almost forsaken, and a long inter- 
mission of the sacred solemnities had taken place." 
About one hundred years after the death of our Lord, 
Clemens Alexandrinus wrote that " Christianity is 
spread throughout the world, in every nation, and 
village, and city." What reason can we give for the 
wonderful triumph of the gospel in so short a time ? 
It is no sufficient explanation to say that men will 
submit to any bodily torture and mental anguish to 
save the soul. True, the Hindoo will pierce his skin 
with hooks, and tear his flesh with pincers, yea, he 
will even allow his body to be crushed and mangled 
beneath the bloody wheels of the car of his idol. 
True, the loving mother has often given "the fruit of 
her body for the sin of her soul." The seven times 
heated image of Moloch has consumed ten thousands 
of tender babes. The turbid Ganges has often been 
choked with the voluntary offerings of pagan mothers. 
But there has always been some notoriety, some e'clat, 
some gratification of vanity, attending the sacrifice. 
The disciples of Jesus were taught, on the contrary, 
to expect slander instead of applause, contempt instead 
of glory. Again, the heathen, who immolates himself 
or his offspring, not only gains thereby the admira- 
tion of his countrymen, but expects to win heaven 
without holiness of heart. Men will endure torture, 
ignominy, and death, to propitiate offended Deity; 
they will do anything, suffer anything, to gain eternal 
life, except love God and keep his commandments. 
But Jesus requires his disciples not only to die for 
3* 



22 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

the truth, but also to live for the truth. Every child 
of God must not only hold himself ready to wear, if 
necessary, the martyr's crown, but he must also lead 
a consistent, holy, and useful life. This brings us 
naturally to the third division of our subject. 

III. What they are to do, (from 13th verse to the 
17th:) "Ye are the salt of the earth: but, if the salt 
have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It 
is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, 
and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the 
light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot 
be hid," &c. 

The connection between these four verses, begin- 
ning with the 13th and ending at the 17th, is obvious 
at a glance. Christianity is a scheme of active, as 
well as passive duties. Living for the truth is en- 
joined, as well as suffering and dying for it. The 
monk, who immures himself in a cloister; the nun, 
who shuts herself up in a cell, departs widely from 
the teaching and example of Him who went about 
doing good. The devotees of false religion may and 
do suffer to support a pestilent superstition; but they 
are not "careful to maintain good works." The pride 
and vanity of the human heart, the approbation of 
mankind, the hope of appeasing incensed heaven, may 
stimulate to the endurance of great torture of mind 
and body. But a holy life is the work of the Spirit 
of God. The Prophet Isaiah, (chapters i. and lviii.) 
had taught the vanity of rites and ceremonies; a holy 
heart, a blameless life, an ever active benevolence, 



SEKMON ON THE MOUNT. 23 

were shown to be more pleasing to the Searcher of 
Hearts than incense and whole burnt-offering. The 
Son of God, in the four verses above, is careful to 
guard his disciples against the too common error that 
heaven may be won by physical and mental suffering. 
This has been the great mistake of heathenism in all 
ages of the world ; it has been the grand delusion of 
Popery in latter days. The higher teaching of the 
prophet is sanctioned by " God manifest in the flesh." 
Cast in the salt of grace into these sin-polluted foun- 
tains, (2 Kings xi. 21,) that they may be healed and 
send forth streams to gladden the city of our God. 
Let your good works shine as a beacon-light to illu- 
mine and make plain the pathway to the skies. These 
two things Jesus requires of his disciples, viz. to 
save the world from corruption and to enlighten "the 
dark places of the earth, which are full of the habita- 
tions of cruelty." The salt most probably refers to 
the inner life-godliness in the heart, and the light to 
the outward manifestation of it. The influence of 
both is felt in the well-being of society; the former 
instructs by example, the latter, by precept. 

Light is the symbol, in the Holy Scriptures, of 
knowledge in divine things, and instruction in holi- 
ness. " God is light, and in him is no darkness at 
all." When the Hebrew saw the glorious light, 
which he called the Shecinah, he bowed his head in 
adoring reverence. Jesus is "the Sun of Righteous- 
ness with healing in his wings." The first words 
uttered in the universe by the Almighty Being who 



24 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

had evoked it from nothing, were "Let there be 
light." 

"Let there be light! proclaimed the Almighty Lord, 
Astonished Chaos heard the potent word; 
Through all his realms the kindling ether runs, 
And the mass starts into a million suns; 
Earths round each sun with quick explosion burst, 
And second planets issue from the first; 
Bend, as they journey with projectile force, 
In bright ellipses their reluctant course; . 
Orbs wheel in orbs, centres round centres roll, 
And form, self-balanced, one revolving whole. 
— Onward they move amid their bright abode 
Space without bound, the bosom of their God."* 

As the first command of the Omnipotent God was 
the evoking of light from darkness, so the last com- 
mand of Immanuel, God with us, was to "send out 
light and truth." "Go ye therefore and teach all 
nations," &c. The symbol of knowledge, which the 
Father caused to rest upon the dark mass of elements, 
"without form and void," found its realization and 
fulfilment in the glorious gospel of his Son. 

One remark as to the spirit with which good works 
are to be performed. They are to be done proximately, 
that men may be stimulated to the same; ultimately, 
that God may be glorified. Society is so bound to- 
gether that there is no human being so insignificant 
as not to exert an influence upon his fellows. The 
very idiot and madman excite emotions, which mould 

* Darwin's Botanic Garden, page 10. 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 25 

character for good or for evil. "None of us liveth to 
himself, and no man dieth to himself." The act of 
A. may prompt B. to do a like act, and he in turn 
may influence C, and so we may have a chain of 
sequences reaching down to the end of time. Myriads 
in heaven may praise God throughout eternity for a 
prayer uttered before the flood; hosts of howling 
devils in hell may ascribe their perdition to an oath 
blasphemously spoken, ages before they were born. 
Surely, if it be a fearful thing to die, it is a still more 
fearful thing to live. Philosophy teaches us that not 
a particle of matter is ever destroyed. In like man- 
ner it may be, that not a single action will ever be 
annihilated in its consequences. If the material be 
not capable of destruction, how much less so must be 
the emanation of the immortal mind ! Could the dis- 
ciple of Christ feel in all its force the solemn fact that 
every thought, word, and act of his would live in its 
effects as long as God himself will live, he could 
more readily comply with the injunction, "Whatso- 
ever ye do, do all to the glory of God." 

Adam was the great representative of our race — the 
type of mankind. Just as his sin tainted all his de- 
scendants, so does the sin of every man corrupt and 
pollute, to some extent, those who succeed him down to 
the latest generation. The difference in the magni- 
tude of the results is of course immense, because 
Adam stood in covenant relation with our race. Still 
our great federal Head is our type, in regard to the 
unending influence of every action. 



26 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

IV. What they are not to be. 

A formalistic religion like that of the Scribes and 
Pharisees is carefully to be avoided. The errors of 
doctrine of these sects are exposed from the 17th verse 
to the end of the 5th chapter; their errors of practice 
from the beginning of the 6th chapter to the close of 
the sermon. 

"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or 
the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 
For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth 
pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from 
the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore 
shall break one of these least commandments, and 
shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the 
kingdom of heaven : but whosoever shall do and teach 
them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom 
of heaven. For I say unto you, that except your 
righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the 
Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into 
the kingdom of heaven." (Verses 17-20.) 

These four verses are closely interlinked with the 
four preceding. In the 16th verse, the disciples are 
exhorted to let their light shine. Shall it shine in a 
few splendid actions on grand occasions? or shall it 
burn steadily, casting a halo around the jots and 
tittles — the little matters, as well as the great events 
of life? Shall it flare like the midnight torch in tri- 
umphal procession along the gaudily decorated streets 
of some rejoicing city? or shall it shine as the sun, 
"more and more unto the perfect day;" alike over 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 27 

the smooth expanse of ocean and the craggy moun- 
tain's lofty top; alike over the desert and cultivated 
field; alike over the busy mart of men and the soli- 
tude of the boundless forest? 

The answer is from the lips of Him, who spake as 
never man spake. "Think not that I am come to 
destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to 
destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till 
heaven and earth pass, one jot or tittle shall in no 
wise pass, till all be fulfilled." Think not that I 
will accept your gifts of tongues, your powers of heal- 
ing, your death of martyrdom even, as substitutes for 
the smaller duties of every-day life. The invariable 
tendency of fanaticism is to offset vice by real or sup- 
posed virtue. The Mohammedan, with his sword 
reeking in innocent blood, exults in his pilgrimage to 
Mecca, in his ablutions, and his abstinence from 
wine. The Catholic may be cruel, intolerant, 
bigoted, and superstitious, provided he observes the 
festivals of the Church, reverences her saints, and is 
punctual at the confessional. The drunkard often 
consoles himself with the reflection that he has 
defrauded no one. The blasphemer oftentimes 
soothes his wounded conscience with the thought that 
he is a good neighbour and friend. The thief too, 
sometimes makes his boast that he has never shed 
blood. The bold, reckless infidel, frequently prides 
himself upon the good provision he has made for his 
family. Thus it has always been and always will be. 
The world has ever been full of Scribes and Phari- 



28 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

sees. Men expect to counterbalance favourite vices 
by virtues easily practised, because congenial to their 
natures. Jesus Christ has put the seal of condemna- 
tion upon this system of offsets and balances. "For 
I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall 
exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Phari- 
sees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of 
heaven." Ah! it matters not if the virtues be great 
and the vices small. For, hear him again, "Whoso- 
ever therefore shall break one of these least com- 
mandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be 
called the least in the kingdom of heaven." The 
Apostle James, in the spirit of his Master, shows the 
vanity and hollowness of that religion, which hopes to 
buy indulgence in cherished sins by the practice 
of extraneous virtues. Hear him, ye fanatics, with 
benevolence on your tongues, and murder and treason 
in your hearts — "For whosoever shall keep the 
whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty 
of all." 

Our Saviour begins at the 21st verse to expose the 
doctrinal errors of the Scribes and Pharisees. "Ye 
have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou 
shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in 
danger of the judgment: but I say unto you, That 
whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause, 
shall be in danger of the judgment; and whosoever 
shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of 
the council; but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall 
be in danger of hell-fire." (Verses 21, 22.) 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 29 

The Jewish sectaries had been careful to draw dis- 
tinctions between the great and little matters of the 
law. Some crimes are doubtless of a darker hue than 
others ; one sin is so odious in the sight of the Om- 
nipotent Jehovah that even the blood of his own Son 
cannot atone for it. Unfortunately, the Jews were 
influenced by passion, prejudice, the corrupt inclina- 
tions of their own sinful hearts, in their classification 
of great and small vices. (Vide Matt, xxiii.) They 
instituted the scheme of major and minor duties to be 
subsidiary to their system of counterpoises. In doing 
this, moreover, they estimated the external act and 
not the internal motive — they looked at the stream 
and not at the fountain. Murder was justly held to 
be punishable with death; but the anger that prompts 
to murder, was no crime in their code. Adultery was 
forbidden; but the roving eye and lustful thought 
were unrebuked in their scheme of morals. Divorce 
was regulated by law, but the sinful estrangement of 
affection between husband and wife received no cen- 
sure and no comment. Thus their religion was a cold, 
outward formalism, devoid of inner heat and vitality. 
The religion of the gospel is the religion of the heart. 
It teaches that a good tree alone yields healthful 
fruit — that pure oil alone can make a brilliant light. 
It speaks of the new birth. It puts into the mouth of 
the convinced sinner the prayer, " Create in me a 
new heart, God; and renew a right spirit within 
me." It despises the mummeries of forms and cere- 
4 



30 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

monies, and requires that " God, who is a Spirit, shall 
be worshipped in spirit and in truth." 

Jesus manifests the superiority of his system of 
morals over the formalistic economy of the Scribes 
and Pharisees, by condemning the malevolent spirit 
that exhibits itself in causeless anger; opprobrious 
reflections on the understanding, ("raca," foolish fel- 
low;) censure of the character, ("fool," equivalent to 
wicked wretch;) and vexatious litigation, (verse 25.) 
He graduates the punishment of these several offences 
by their degree of malignity. 

But at the same time, with the characteristic bene- 
volence of his nature, he suggests the true remedy 
to subdue malignant passions: "Therefore, if thou 
bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest 
that thy brother hath ought against thee, leave there 
thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be 
reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer 
thy gift." (Verses 23, 24.) 

Let the poor irritated worm of the dust, when he 
bows as a suppliant before the offended majesty of 
Heaven, compare the wrongs inflicted upon him with 
his own daring outrages against the kingdom and 
government of the God, who made and preserves him. 
The injuries done to him will then appear but as the 
small dust of the balance, while his own rebellion 
against his Maker and Redeemer will rise up before 
him as a mountain, with huge and awful proportions. 
Our Saviour next proceeds (verses 27 and 28) 
to condemn the teaching of the Scribes and Pharisees 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 31 

in regard to adultery. With them, the act alone was 
criminal, but with the Searcher of hearts and Trier of 
reins, there may be adultery of the soul as well as 
of the body. God will not overlook that sin which 
was conceived in the heart, but which was never per- 
petrated, because time, and place, and opportunity 
did not favour. The Apostle speaks of those who 
have "eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease 
from sin." 2 Peter ii. 14. " The pure in heart" 
not the pure in act, have the promise that they "shall 
see God." 

Jesus again suggests the remedy, (verses 29 and 
30,) "And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it 
out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee 
that one of thy members should perish, and not that 
thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy 
right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from 
thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy 
members should perish, and not that thy whole body 
should be cast into hell." The wanton look is to be 
restrained — the first emotions of unholy desire are to be 
suppressed. The eye (verse 29) is taken as the symbol 
of that which prompts to sin. The roving eye of king 
David led him to the commission of murder and adul- 
tery. The eye must be shut against the contempla- 
tion of dangerous objects, else the hand will surely be 
employed in the perpetration of sin. The hand (verse 
30) is taken as the symbol of executive power: "The 
hand of God was heavy on them of Ashdod." 1 Sam. 
v. 11. " The hand of God has touched me." Job xix. 20. 



32 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

"Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand 
of God." 1 Peter v. 6. "This also I saw, that it was 
from the hand of God." Eccl. ii. 24, &c. &c. The 
meaning then of the two verses is obvious. Verse 
29 warns against forming impure feelings; but lest 
"sin conceived should bring forth death," verse 30 
exhorts to refraining from the sinful deed that the 
heart may have devised. But we have also a com- 
pound idea conveyed under this figure of the members 
of the human body. First, in regard to the excision 
of the offending parts. If the licentious eye be 
plucked out, there will be one less member to endure 
the tortures of hell; if the blaspheming tongue be 
torn out, there will be no imploring cry to "dip 
the tip of the finger in water," to cool the tor- 
ments of "this flame." Just in proportion then as 
the flesh, with its affections and lusts, has been cruci- 
fied — just in proportion as sinning members have 
been exscinded will be the mitigation of the pangs of 
perdition. Blessed be God, there may be such a 
thing as being "dead to sin;" but this can only be by 
having "our old man crucified with Him, that the 
body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we 
should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed 
from sin." If, however, the poor sinner have cruci- 
fied none of his lusts, if he have cut off no offending 
limb, he will be a perfect man in hell, capable of 
enduring the highest possible amount of agony, tor- 
ture and despair. The second phase, of the dual idea 
conveyed in the figure, is that the body of every 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 33 

believer is a temple of the Holy Ghost. "What, 
know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy 
Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye 
are not your own?" 1 Cor. vi. 19. As men are care- 
ful to remove all pollution and defilement from a tem- 
ple consecrated to religious worship, so everything 
that dishonours and contaminates the temple of the 
Holy Ghost must be cast away, "If any man defile 
the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the 
temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." 1 Cor. 
iii. 17. Let this temple, if need be, be shorn of its 
fair proportions, but let what remains of it be swept 
and garnished, and made a fit abode for the Holy 
Spirit of God. Let the diseased eye be plucked out, 
and the gangrened hand be cut off, so that the body 
shall be a temple "without spot," if not "without 
blemish." 

The 31st verse stands in intimate relations with 
the four preceding verses. "It hath been said, that 
whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a 
writing of divorcement." Undoubtedly, unhallowed 
love for another but too often prompts the estranged 
husband or the alienated wife, to seek for the dissolu- 
tion of those bonds which God intended to be per- 
petual. There is a fearful significance in the fact, 
that our Saviour, in his discourse, thus couples divorce 
with adultery, as effect and cause. Discontented 
husbands and wives should ponder it well. " What 
God has joined together, let not" human legislation 
"put asunder." Moses indeed permitted divorce, 
4* 



34 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

but Jesus taught that it was "because of the hardness 
of their hearts," and that "from the beginning it 
was not so." Matt. xix. 8. The true doctrine on the 
subject of divorce is laid down in the 32d verse: 
"But I say unto you, that whosoever shall put away 
his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth 
her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry 
her that is divorced, committeth adultery." Infidelity 
then to the marriage vows constitutes the only justifi- 
able ground of divorce. Guilty men have wickedly 
adopted another standard, and have permitted the 
separation of husband and wife upon a thousand 
frivolous pretexts. 

Again does our Saviour suggest the remedy for 
this sin — "But I say unto you, that whosoever shall 
put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, 
causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall 
marry her that is divorced, committeth adultery." 
Let the discontented husband contemplate the conse- 
quences of his divorce. Should his wife marry again, 
he must share in the guilt of her adultery, and that 
of her second husband. Any man, whose conscience 
is not seared as with a hot iron, must be deterred 
from seeking a divorce (saving for the cause of forni- 
cation) by contemplating his responsibility in all the 
subsequent sins which will follow the act. Doubtless, 
the legislatures which sanction, and the courts which 
grant divorces for other causes than the one specified 
above, are involved in a like condemnation. We 
think, too, that it is no stretch of this doctrine of 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 35 

responsibility as taught by our Saviour, that the 
judges and juries, who, from false pity or worse 
motive, acquit the criminal in the face of clear evi- 
dence against him, must share in the guilt of all his 
after deeds of violence, crime, and bloodshed. 

The connection of the 33d verse with the two 
preceding verses, is evident at a glance. "Again, 
ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old 
time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt per- 
form unto the Lord thine oaths." Every one knows 
that looseness of legislation upon the subject of divorce 
is a prolific source of false swearing. Suits for 
divorce are notoriously attended with a fearful amount 
of perjury. In no actions at law, is there perhaps so 
much shameless disregard of the sanctity of the oath. 
The cause of this lies in the natural alliance of one 
sin with another. The applicant for divorce is tempted 
to perjury for the sake of after indulgence in sin. 
This constitutes the grand distinction between suits 
for divorce and other suits. In most actions at law, 
property, love of fame, revenge, &c, prompt to the 
violation of the oath, but in this, sin is the tempter. 
And so long as human nature is corrupt, sin consti- 
tutes the most powerful incentive to sin. 

The transition from perjury to habitual profanity 
is natural and easy. Hence the next three verses 
treat of profane swearing in ordinary conversation. 
"But I say unto you, Swear not at all: neither by 
heaven; for it is God's throne: nor by the earth; 
for it is his foot-stool : neither by Jerusalem ; for it 



36 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou 
swear by thy head, for thou canst not make one hair 
white or black." (Verses 34 — 36.) 

That profanity is here forbidden, and not judicial 
oaths before the magistrate, is evident from the fact, 
that in the Jewish tribunals no oath was administered 
according to these forms, "by heaven," or "by Jeru- 
salem," or "by the earth," or "by the head." The 
word "communication," too, in the 36th verse, ought 
to set the question at rest. This word (logos) could 
be more properly rendered conversation, and then it 
is plain that the prohibition of the oath refers to the 
ordinary intercourse of life. The example of Christ 
corresponds to this view of the subject. He responded 
to the oath administered by the high priest. "And 
the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure 
thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou 
be the Christ the Son of God. Jesus saith unto him, 
Thou hast said." 

In regard to the sin of profanity, our Saviour, after 
controverting the fallacy of the Pharisaic doctrine, 
gives us the true rule to control our social inter- 
course: "Let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, 
nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of 
evil." A total abstinence from all expletives to orna- 
ment or confirm our speech, is absolutely and uncon- 
ditionally forbidden. 

Our Saviour again suggests the remedy. The con- 
templation of the awful nature of God, as Sovereign 
of heaven and earth, (verses 34 and 35,) will fill ua 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 37 

with too much reverence to permit the vain use of 
his name and attributes; the consideration of our 
own insignificance (verse 36) will inspire us with too 
much humility to allow of that loud, inflated species 
of conversation that is tricked off with profane exple- 
tives and blasphemous phrases. 

"Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for 
an eye, and a tooth for a tooth," (verse 38.) 

This verse contains the substance of the celebrated 
"lex talionis," or law of like for like — the punishment 
to be in all respects similar to the offence. This law 
prevailed among the Jews, and the Greeks and 
Romans. So congenial is it to the ideas of natural 
justice, that it has ever been found in rude states of 
society, and is at this hour practised everywhere 
among savage and untutored nations. Under the 
name of "reprisals," it has been acknowledged and 
sanctioned by writers on international law. Vattel 
thus alludes to it: "This leads us to speak of a kind 
of retortion sometimes practised in war, under the 
name of reprisals. If a general of the enemy has, 
without any just reason, caused some prisoners to be 
hanged, a like number of his men, and of the same 
rank, will be hung up, signifying to him that his reta- 
liation will be continued for obliging him to observe 
the laws of war. It is a sad extremity thus to put a 
prisoner to death for his general's fault; and if this 
prisoner before was promised his life, reprisals cannot 
be made upon him with any colour of justice. Yet, as 
a prince or his general has a right of sacrificing the 



38 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

life of his enemies to his safety, and that of his men; 
if he is engaged with an inhuman enemy, who fre- 
quently commits such enormities, he appears to have 
a right of refusing life to some of the prisoners he 
may take, and of treating them as his were treated." 
Book iii., chap. viii. 

In accordance with these principles, retaliation has 
been almost recognized as a part of international law. 
History furnishes frequent instances of its existence. 
During the siege of Londonderry, the besieged erected 
a gallows on the bastion, and threatened to hang all 
their prisoners in retaliation of the cruelties of the 
inhuman Rosen. The threat had the effect of check- 
ing the atrocities of that savage commander.* After 
the execution of Col. Hayne and other Southern 
patriots, Gen. Greene was induced by his officers to 
threaten to hang a British officer for every American 
similarly treated by the enemy. Gen. Washington 
might have been induced to pardon Major Andre, had 
not the army and the country regarded the execution 
of that officer as a proper retaliation for the death of 
Capt. Nathan Hale. During the war on the conti- 
nent of Europe, which followed the French Revolution, 
we find frequent instances of retaliation. Napoleon, 
in retaliation for the order of the British government 
declaring the coasts of Prussia in a state of blockade, 
published his famous Berlin Decree, prohibiting Bri- 
tish commodities of every kind from being introduced 

* Macaulay's History of England, Vol. iii., page 208. 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 39 

on the continent. Great Britain retaliated by her 
Orders in Council, declaring all the coasts of France 
and those of her allies in a state of blockade, and 
proclaiming "all vessels good prize, which should be 
bound for any of their harbours." Napoleon replied 
to this by his Milan Decree, dated Dec. 17th, 1807, 
declaring — "1st. That every vessel, of whatever 
nation, which shall have submitted to be searched by 
British cruisers, or paid any impost levied by the 
English government, shall be considered as having 
lost the privileges of a neutral flag, and be considered 
and dealt with as English vessels. 2d. Being so con- 
sidered, they shall be declared good prize. 3d. The 
British islands are declared in a state of blockade. 
Every vessel, of whatever nation, and with whatever 
cargo, coming from any British harbour, or from any 
of the English colonies, or from any country occupied 
by the English troops, or bound for England, or for 
the English colonies, or for any country occupied by 
the English troops, is declared good prize."* By 
these unlawful and iniquitous decrees and orders of 
France and Great Britain, neutral nations engaged 
in the carrying trade became the prey of both belli- 
gerent powers. The United States, being a great 
maritime state, suffered most severely, and Congress 
therefore, as a measure of retaliation, passed, on the 
1st of March, 1809, the non-intercourse act, prohibit- 
ing all trade and intercourse with England and France. 

* Allison's History of Europe, Vol. ii., Chap, xlvii. 



40 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

Napoleon retaliated by the Rambouillet Decree, or- 
dering all American vessels entering French ports to 
be seized and condemned. This was published on the 
23d of March, 1810, and Congress replied on the 1st 
of May, by excluding all armed French and British 
vessels from the ports of the United States. On the 
3d of April, 1812, Congress passed the embargo act, 
to retaliate for the impressment of American seamen.* 
By the provisions of a treaty negotiated by Mr. Rives, 
France bound herself to make indemity to the United 
States for spoliations upon American commerce during 
the reign of Napoleon. But she failed to fulfil these 
stipulations, until Gen. Jackson threatened to make 
reprisals upon the French merchant marine. 

The principle of retaliation is so congenial to 
human nature, and so consonant with our ideas of 
natural justice, that we meet with instances of it on 
almost every page of history, both ancient and 
modern. Almost all wars have been waged to retali- 
ate for some real and supposed injury. Wars of con- 
quest scarce form an exception to this rule, for even 
conquerors have sought to excuse their lust of power 
and dominion under the plea that they were redress- 
ing their own or their country's wrongs. Alexander 
the Great justified the invasion of Persia as an act of 
merited retribution for the invasion of Greece by 
Xerxes; and at the instigation of the courtesan Thais, 
burned Persepolis in revenge for the burning of 

* Taylor's Modern History. 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 41 

Athens by the Persian monarch.* Hannibal plead 
the wrongs inflicted by Rome upon Carthage to 
justify his invasion of Italy. f Hernando Cortez ex- 
cused himself for the seizure and confinement of Mon- 
tezuma upon the ground that " the Lord of Nauhtlan 
had made war upon the garrison of Vera Cruz, and 
upon his allies, the Totonacs, by the instigation of the 
Aztec monarch.";}; Francisco Pizarro justified his 
treacherous capture of the Peruvian monarch Ata- 
hualpa, upon the ground that the Inca had thrown 
down and trampled upon the breviary presented to 
him by the Friar Vicente de Valverde.§ The right- 
eous Pizarro was but avenging an insult to the 
majesty of Heaven. The historian Alison assures us 
that Napoleon constantly professed his desire for 
peace, and declared that all his invasions of foreign 
territory were forced upon him to retaliate for the 
treachery and implacability of the enemies of his 
throne and his people. 

Private feuds and personal difficulties arise in like 
manner from the desire to apply the lex talionis to 
differences between individuals. Now, when, the 
wrong-doer is punished exactly in like manner as he 
had punished others, the act is spontaneously ap- 
proved as one of justice and right. The history of 
the world and the records of divine truth are full of 
instances of terrible retribution being visited upon the 

* Prideaux's Connections, Vol. i., page 379. 

f History of Rome. % Clavigero, Vol. i., page 50. 

| Prescott's Conquest of Peru, Vol. i., page 415. 

5 



42 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

heads of the cruel, the crafty, and the malignant. 
The lex talionis belongs then to God in his provi- 
dence, and may be properly delegated by him to the 
civil magistrate and the executive officer; but when 
acted upon by an individual in his private capacity, 
it becomes revenge, and arrogates the prerogative of 
God himself. "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith 
the Lord." Just here lay the mistake of the Jew. 
He perverted the law of Moses, given as a guide to 
the civil magistrate in inflicting punishment in a court 
of justice, and made it his rule in wreaking his ven- 
geance upon his enemies. And thus he wantonly 
construed the directions to the officers of justice into 
sanctioning the most atrocious private revenge. 

This points out the relation between the 38th verse 
and that which precedes it. Perjury is but too often 
the instrument which malice selects to work out ven- 
geance. What an array of connected sins we have 
presented from the 21st to the 39th verse! Wrath, 
lust, profanity, perjury, and malice. We find them 
associated together every day — the same individual 
being but too often the receptacle of them all. The 
philosophy of the combination is simple. Vice engen- 
ders vice ; sin begets sin. Give the reins to evil pro- 
pensities in one particular, and they will drag along 
in their wild and furious career every other hateful 
and malignant passion. 

The lex talionis of Jesus Christ is a different thing 
from the lex talionis of revengeful man. Instead of 
assimilating the punishment, he assimilates the kind- 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 43 

ness to the offence. The left cheek is turned to the 
smiter of the right; the cloak is given to him who has 
taken the coat; double service is rendered to him who 
compelled partial service; the beggar and borrower 
are encouraged in their importunity and exactions. 

Every species of wrong-doing is provided for by 
the lex talionis of the Son of God. 1st. Personal 
violence: "Whosoever shall smite thee on the right 
cheek, turn to him the other also," (verse 39.) Injury 
contrary to law and right is comprehended in this 
class. 2d. Wrong inflicted by individuals, under 
colour of law: "If any man will sue thee at law, and 
take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also,'' 
(verse 40.) Here we have wrong done by individuals, 
as opposed to the state, and yet under legal forms, 
and with a show of justice. This distinguishes the 
second class from the unlawful and outrageous vio- 
lence comprised in the first class. 3d. Wrong inflicted 
by the government: "And whosoever shall compel 
thee to go a mile, go with him twain," (verse 41.) 
The word "compel" here used, is borrowed from the 
Persian language. "In Persia, the king's orders 
were conveyed by public couriers, who had changes 
of horses at suitable distances, and who were also 
empowered to press into service any person or any- 
thing that might be needed for performing the king's 
business. The word which expressed this compulsion, 
was adopted in other countries to express a similar 
idea." (Vide Ripley's Notes and Commentaries of 
Scott, Clarke, &c.) The derivation of the word 



44 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

" compel," and its primitive meaning, show that the 
injury contemplated in the 41st verse is at the hands 
of the public authorities. Governments were origin- 
ally constituted for the protection and preservation 
of society, and rulers ought to be a terror to evil 
doers. But a large portion of the suffering under 
which mankind has groaned since the fall of our great 
progenitor, has arisen from the tyranny and oppres- 
sion of the reigning powers. 4th. Wrong at the hands 
of neighbours and supposititious friends : " Give to him 
that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of 
thee, turn not thou away," (42d verse.) The charita- 
ble and benevolent are frequently imposed upon by 
unscrupulous mendicants and unprincipled neighbours. 
Still it is better that an occasional mistake should be 
made in the bestowment of alms, than that the plead- 
ing voice of suffering humanity should be unheeded 
and uncared for. The man who refuses to listen to 
the plea of the supplicant, is himself the great sufferer, 
unless he is thoroughly satisfied that the object is an 
unworthy one. He stifles the noblest sentiment in 
his bosom. He makes God his enemy, and denies 
himself the privilege of praying, 

"The mercy I to others show, 
That mercy show to me." 

Probably, too, the reason that God has permitted 
the unequal distribution of property, and the differ- 
ence of social position, is that men might have the 
opportunity of assimilating themselves to Him, by 
their beneficence and liberality. Giving was incul- 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 45 

cated as a duty under the Mosaic economy. "Thou 
shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thy hand from 
thy poor brother. But thou shalt open thine hand 
wide unto him, and thou shalt surely lend him suffi- 
cient for his need in that which he wanteth." " Thou 
shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be 
grieved when thou givest unto him." What was a 
duty then, is a privilege now. Jesus Christ has taught 
that "it is more blessed to give than receive." He, 
too, has so identified himself with the poor of his 
flock, that a charity to them is a gift to him. "Inas- 
much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these 
my brethren, ye have done it unto me." The Chris- 
tian, who truly loves his Saviour, can have no higher 
incentive to charity. Shall he not give freely to the 
precious Being, who suffered, bled, and died for 
him? 

Verse 42 has, however, as we understand it, less to 
do with the grace of giving than with the quiet, gentle 
temper, which the Christian must practise when a 
wrong is done to him in the shape of a forced gift 
or loan. This is plain from the fact, that the whole 
subject of alms-giving is treated of in the sixth 
chapter, and, therefore, must be superfluous there or 
here. This 42d verse then inculcates the spirit with 
which wrong is to be received, when it comes in the 
form of destruction to property by the beggar and 
borrower. The Christian under such circumstances 
must adopt the lex talionis of his Master, and not 
that of a wicked, revengeful world. He must "heap 



46 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

coals of fire on the head" of his wronger, by the 
grace and cheerfulness with which he gives or loans. 

And thus our Saviour has left us (in the five verses 
beginning at the 38th and ending with the 42d) parti- 
cular rules for the reception of every kind of injury; 
personal violence, and assault on character, loss of 
property, compulsory service, and petty annoyance 
from begging and borrowing. Assault on character 
is included with personal violence, for abusive epithets 
are always coupled with blows. And even the most 
violent wretch will not strike, until he has sought to 
justify the blow by some blackening aspersion upon 
the character of the man he seeks to injure. 

Verses 43 — 45. "Ye have heard that it hath been 
said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine 
enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, 
bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate 
you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, 
and persecute you; that ye may be the children of 
your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his 
sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth 
rain on the just and on the unjust." 

"Our Saviour has now come to the most exalted 
and final end of all his precepts, to love itself." 
(Olshausen.) Here, too, we find the perverted teach- 
ing of the Scribes and Pharisees. The injunction to 
love their neighbours, they had construed into grant- 
ing permission to hate their enemies, and by enemy, 
the Jew, like the Greek and Roman, understood the 
stranger — the man who was not of his own people. 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 47 

It is obvious, too, from the context, that the word 
neighbour was narrowed in, so as to include only- 
friends, while the word enemy was so enlarged as 
to embrace not only the whole gentile world, but all 
who were inimical to the Jew in his own nation. 
Thus it ever is with corrupt human nature ; the circle 
of duties is contracted more and more, while the 
Scriptures are perverted to justify the enlargement 
of the circle of the vices. The Scribes had no shadow 
of excuse for this perversion. They had no license 
granted to them in the word of God either to hate 
Jew or gentile. The same Scriptures that taught 
them to love their neighbours, forbade them to indulge 
malignant feelings towards their own people. "Thou 
shalt not avenge nor bear any grudge against the 
children of thy people; but thou shalt love thy neigh- 
bour as thyself." Lev. xix. 18. Kindness to all 
mankind was enjoined in like strong strong language: 
"And if a stranger shall sojourn with thee, in your 
land, ye shall not vex him. But the stranger that 
dwelleth with you, shall be unto you as one born 
among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for 
ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. I am the 
Lord your God." Lev. xix. 33, 34. Here, tender 
consideration for the stranger is -enjoined from a 
motive that would be most likely to touch the sensi- 
bilities of the Jew, the remembrance of his own friend- 
less and desolate condition in the land of bondage. 
Again, "Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were 
strangers in the land of Egypt." Deut. x. 18. "Also 



48 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

thou slialt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the 
heart of a stranger; seeing ye were strangers in the 
land of Egypt." Exodus xxiii. 9. Strangers, too, 
were placed upon the same platform with natives, in 
regard to legal though not religious privileges. "Ye 
shall have one manner of law as well for the stranger 
as for one of your own country." Lev. xxiv. 22. 
"Ye shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger, 
and for him that was born in the land." Numb, 
ix. 14. 

Dr. John Brown well observes, " Strangers, equally 
with neighbours, are represented as the proper ob- 
jects of such a love as we bear to ourselves; and 
though there are passages in which "neighbour" sig- 
nifies one with whom, by common origin or vicinity 
of residence, we are peculiarly connected, in contrast 
with a foreigner or stranger, yet the manner in which 
it is employed in the Decalogue, is sufficient of itself 
to show that the term is often used to designate man- 
kind at large, with all of whom every individual is 
connected by a variety of ties. When they were pro- 
hibited from bearing false witness against their neigh- 
bours, they were certainly prohibited from bearing 
false witness against any one; and when they were 
prohibited from coveting the wife as the property of 
their neighbour, surely the prohibition had a universal 
reference. The command to love their neighbour, 
properly understood, was a command to love all man- 
kind; and by consequence, absolutely prohibited 
malignant feelings — for if we love all our neighbours 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 49 

of mankind, there will remain none to hate." (Brown's 
Exposition, Vol. i., page 190.) 

So far from there being any such command in the 
Old Testament as, "Thou shalt hate thine enemy," 
revenge is expressly forbidden. " If thou meet thine 
enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely 
bring it back to him again. If thou see the ass of 
him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and 
wouldst forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help 
with him." Exod. xxiii. 4, 5. "Rejoice not when 
thine enemy falleth, and let not thy heart be glad 
when he stumbleth." Prov. xxiv. 17. "If thine 
enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he 
be thirsty, give him water to drink." Prov. xxv. 21. 
A comparison too of the injunction contained in Deut. 
xxii. 4, with that contained in Exod. xxiii. 5, might 
have shown the Jew that the word neighbour and 
even brother, included his enemy. " Thou shalt not 
see thy brother s ass or his ox fall down by the way, 
and hide thyself from them; thou shalt surely help 
him to lift them up again." Deut. xxii. 4. "If thou 
meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray," &c. 
Exod. xxiii. 4, 5. Our Saviour proves his Sonship to 
the glorious Being, who had taught universal benevo- 
lence and universal philanthropy by the mouths of 
Moses and Solomon. " I say unto you, love your 
enemies," &c. Verse 44 contains the crowning glory 
of "the law of retaliation," as taught by the lowly 
Nazarene. It contains a nice adaptation of kind- 
ness to the injury meditated or inflicted; loye is to be 



50 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

given to the enemy; blessing or fair speech, as the 
word imports, is to be exchanged for cursing and 
reviling; good is to be done to those who hate us: 
and finally, when the wrong reaches its climax, and 
becomes spiteful treatment and persecution, then we 
must pray to God to suit his blessing to the magni- 
tude of the offence, because human ability is inade- 
quate to the apportionment. 

Verse 45. "That ye may be the children of your 
Father which is in heaven; for he maketh his sun to 
rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on 
the just and on the unjust." 

We have in this verse the reason of and the author- 
ity for the "lex talionis" of Jesus Christ. Both are 
found in the character and conduct of God. The law 
which the Father practises, the Son has left as a rule 
and guide for his disciples. " God commendeth his 
love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, 
Christ died for us." " Herein is love, not that we 
loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to 
be the propitiation for our sins." "When I passed 
by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I 
said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; 
yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, 

Live Then washed I thee with water; 

yea, I thoroughly washed away thy blood from thee, 
and I anointed thee with oil." Here we have exhi- 
bited the law of retaliation as practised by God the 
Father. When man had insulted the majesty of 
Heaven by his pollutions, then it was that God opened 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 51 

"a fountain for sin and for uncleanness." Let every 
Christian be guided by the "law of retaliation" which 
God the Father has practised, which God the Son has 
taught, and which God the Spirit has sealed and ap- 
proved. 

Verses 46, 47, 48. "For if ye love them which 
love you, what reward have ye ? do not even the pub- 
licans the same? And if ye salute your brethren 
only, what do ye more than others? do not even the 
publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your 
Father which is in heaven is perfect." 

Our Saviour, in these verses, contrasts the love of 
God, which takes into its embrace the bitterest of 
foes, and grants them the genial sun and refreshing 
shower, with that natural love of kindred and friends, 
which even the despised publican could feel. The 
children of God are of course to imitate his example, 
rather than that of publicans and sinners. The love of 
one's wife, or husband, or children, or relatives, is 
only an enlarged species of selfishness. Eph. v. 28. 
He who is destitute of this kind of love is worse than a 
brute; but he who has no more extended benevolence, 
is no better than a publican. We hear much of the 
cant, that "charity begins at home;" so it ought, but 
it aught not to begin and end there too. The gospel 
was first to be preached at Jerusalem, but the disci- 
ples were also to "go into all the world" and declare 
the good tidings of a crucified Saviour "to every crea- 
ture." There is something peculiarly instructive in 
the language employed in describing the universal 



52 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

beneficence of God. The all-pervading sun, "there is 
no creature hid from the heat thereof;" the rain that 
falls upon the craggy mountain and the smooth ex- 
panse of ocean ; — these are the symbols and the mes- 
sengers of the love of that God who does not confine 
his charity to his pure home in the skies. And how 
encouraging, too, is it to him who aims at the good 
of all his race, to contemplate the action of these 
agents of God. The rain often seems poured out 
uselessly upon barren heights. But it is there col- 
lected and made to descend in a thousand channels 
concealed from mortal eye, to gladden the parched 
up wastes below. So, too, the sun appears to waste 
his generous energies upon the arid wastes of the 
Great Sahara and the desolate solitudes of Africa, 
but he may then be preparing those genial influences 
by which God "makes our garments warm, when he 
quieteth the earth by the south wind." Job xxvii. 17. 
Who can say that the effort of the Christian to do 
good shall ever be lost? Is it not enough for him to 
know that Jesus has given the example of his Father 
for his disciples to imitate? Is it not enough for him 
to know that however enlarged and comprehensive his 
benevolence may be, still it must operate in an infi- 
nitely narrower sphere than that in which are 
employed these agents that are types of the divine 
love? 

The dependence and corelation of parts from the 
38th verse to the close of the chapter, are now evi- 
dent. Our Saviour after laying down his "law of 



SEKMON ON THE MOUNT. 53 

retaliation" in direct opposition to that of a malig- 
nant world, shows his disciples that it is precisely the 
law by which God acts in his dealings with rebellious 
man, and then, by way of giving additional emphasis 
to this law, he contrasts the universal benevolence of 
the Father with the narrow selfishness of the most 
corrupt portion of mankind. 

Before closing our remarks upon the 5th chapter, 
it may be well to notice the attempts made by the 
Scribes and Pharisees to justify vice by distorting the 
Scriptures. (Verses 21-38.) The image of the Creator 
has never been so entirely eifaced among his fallen 
creatures, that they could boldly sin without dignify- 
ing it by the name of virtue, or, at least, excusing it 
as no vice. The world has never yet produced a 
wretch so hardened as not to have some excuse, some 
palliation, or some authority for his crimes. The 
duellist pleads his wounded honour as a justification 
for imbruing his hands in the blood of his fellow-crea- 
ture. The robber and thief plead the wants of a 
family, the unequal distribution of property, the 
wrong organization of society, &c, to justify plunder, 
theft and murder. The impure and licentious claim 
that the God of nature has implanted passions, which 
he meant should be gratified. (So reasoned Hobbes 
and Bolingbroke.) The profane swearer has " acquired 
an unfortunate habit; he means no harm by it, and he 
injures no one." The murderer pleads that "the 
unfortunate blow was given in a moment of passion, 
he has naturally an ungovernablo temper, which he 
6 



54 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

cannot control." There is too much of the divine origi- 
nal left in our apostate race to permit men to embrace 
vice in all its naked deformity. They must first throw 
a covering of fig-leaves around it. Thus we find even 
in heathen mythology, some attempt made to glos3 
over vice. For though sin was often and still is dei- 
fied, yet it has ever been disguised under the sem- 
blance of virtue, or, at least, associated with virtue. 
The Bacchus of the Romans was the god of the vine 
and of agriculture, as well as of drunkenness and 
debauchery. The Dionysus of the Greeks was the 
same being as the Bacchus of the Romans, with the 
same qualities and characteristics; the Schiva of the 
Hindoos at the present day is doubtless the same per- 
sonage, and many think that the Osiris of the 
ancient Egyptians was also the same. Lust was 
deified in heathen mythology as the goddess of love, 
and called Aphrodite by the Greeks, Astartc by the 
Phenicians, Frida by the Scandinavians, &c., &c. 
Thus all that is pure and refined in the sentiment of 
love was made in a corrupt religion to relieve sensu- 
ality of its grossness and bestiality. So, too, the 
Hellenic and Egyptian Hermes and the Roman Mer- 
cury, (for they were the same being,) was not only 
the patron of thieves and liars, but was also the god 
of poetry, eloquence, and commerce. Upon precisely 
the same principle, the filthy novelist, who panders to 
evil passions and unholy appetites, relieves the enor- 
mities of his impure tales by a specious gloss of popu- 
lar virtues. And so we have such stories as the 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 55 

"Generous Robber," the "Magnanimous Highway- 
man," the "Benevolent Magdalen," the "Merry 
Robin Hood," &c, &c. The heroes of the fictions of 
Charles Dickens have no regard for the Sabbath, 
none for the Bible, none for the preached word; they 
look with contempt upon the efforts that the Church 
is making for the dissemination of gospel truth, and 
with equal contempt upon the Christian; but, not- 
withstanding, they are brave, generous, high-minded 
and honourable. His heroines know not the "power 
of godliness," they have no love for a crucified Savi- 
our; but withal are modest, chaste, keepers at home, 
faithful, constant, unrepining, enduring every trial, 
without a murmur and without a complaint. How 
plainly does all this prove that men are not yet so 
depraved as to honour vice as vice, but that they 
often mistake it for moral excellence, when dressed 
up in gauds and finery that are supposed to be the 
adornments of virtue. Thus from the midst of the 
effluvia and deadly exhalations of fens and marshes, 
there arises oftentimes a sickly light, which bears 
some resemblance to beams from the source of heat 
and life. The pet characters of Dickens would be 
regarded with abhorrence by all well-constituted 
minds, but for their possession of these graces, that 
can only be imparted in perfection by that gospel of 
the Son of God, which the author seeks to ignore and 
disparage. 

The 5th chapter exposes the fallacious teaching of 
the Scribes, the 6th and 7th chapters expose the 



56 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

practical errors of the Pharisees in their daily walk 
and conversation. (See Brown s Exposition.) The 
fact, that Jesus begins his instruction with the refuta- 
tion of doctrinal errors, is a sufficient answer to the 
dogma, so often and so confidently put forth, that " it 
matters not what men believe, provided that they are 
sincere in their opinions." Surely, our Saviour 
thought that religious belief was an essential matter, 
else he would not have devoted so large a proportion 
of his discourse to confuting the absurdities taught 
by the Jewish masters. How, too, can we explain his 
emphatic warning to his disciples to "beware of the 
leaven (doctrine) of the Pharisees," if man be not 
responsible for his creed? Was not St. Paul sincere 
in his opinions, when he thought that he did God ser- 
vice by persecuting the Church of Christ? And yet 
he calls himself the least of all the Apostles because of 
this very persecution. Did he then think that his 
sincerity excused his wrong views? What does Peter 
mean by warning against "false teachers, who privily 
shall bring in damnable heresies"? Does he think 
that false creeds are harmless things? Why is James 
so careful " to dissuade from being too forward to 
assume the office of teachers." (Caption to James, 
chapter iii.) "My brethren, be not many masters, 
(teachers,) knowing that we shall receive the greater 
condemnation." If religious belief be a mattter of 
such small concern, as some pretend, where could be 
the harm of any man assuming the office of teacher, 
and how could he receive greater condemnation for 






SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 57 

his false instruction, since according to the no- creed 
system, all teaching, however false, must be harmless. 
The Apostle John is just as decided as Peter and 
James, in declaring the necessity of right views on the 
all-important subject of religion. "If there come 
any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive 
him not into your house, neither bid him God-speed: 
for he that biddeth him God-speed is a partaker of 
his deeds." We fear that John is regarded as very 
harsh, uncharitable, and intolerant, by the no-creed 
liberalists of the present day. Hear him when he 
warns against accepting the dicta of false teachers: 
"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits 
whether they are of God." Jude thought differently 
from these modern liberalists, when he exhorted to 
" contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the 
saints." And by faith, he clearly meant the doc- 
trines taught by the Apostles and Evangelists. {Scott" s 
Commentary.) The Spirit of God rebukes the Church 
of Pergamos for having among its members "them 
that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing 
I hate." 

Let men inveigh against creeds, confessions of 
faith, and formularies of belief, and glory in the 
liberalism of their views. It is a sufficient answer to 
their invective, and to their boast, that the Son and 
Spirit, the Apostles and Evangelists, warn against 
doctrinal errors, and exhort to "hold fast the form of 
sound words." When two sets of opposite opinions 
are entertained, if those who hold to the one set be 
6* 



58 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

right, it is plain that those who hold to the other 
must be wrong. If those, who maintain the non-im- 
portance of religious belief be right, the Son and 
Spirit, the Apostles and Evangelists, must be wrong. 
It would be very strange, if right views were essential 
in medicine, law, agriculture, science, literature, and 
all those things which pertain to this perishing body, 
and be of no sort of consequence in regard to those 
which affect the immortal soul, and the interests of 
eternity. The fact is, that the difference in religious 
belief makes the difference between the heathen 
temple and the Christian Church; between the bar- 
barism of Africa, and the refinements of Christendom ; 
between Hyder AH and George Washington, Nena 
Sahib and General Havelock. 



(CHAPTER VI.) 

Having pointed out the doctrinal errors of the 
Scribes and Pharisees, our Saviour next proceeds to 
show their actual delinquencies in the three great 
duties of religion — alms-giving, prayer, and fasting. 
He begins with alms-giving, since the transition is 
easy and natural from the beneficence of God (with 
which chapter five closes) to the benevolence of man. 

"Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, 
to be seen of them : otherwise ye have no reward of 
your Father which is in heaven. Therefore, when 
thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before 
thee, as the hypocrites do, in the synagogues, and in 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 59 

the streets, that they may have glory of men. 
Verily, I say unto you, They have their reward. 
But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know 
what thy right hand doeth; that thine alms may 
be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret, 
himself shall reward thee openly." (Verses 1 — 4.) 

We observe in these verses that it is not the 
publicity of the alms-giving that is condemned, but 
the vain-glorious motive that prompts to that pub- 
licity. Doubtless there may be occasions when it 
may be the Christian's duty to influence others by 
his worthy example, and induce them to honour the 
religion which he professes, by showing that it 
prompts to charity and benevolence. Christ is glo- 
rified in his disciples, when their piety is felt and 
acknowledged. If the good deeds of professed 
Christians were entirely unknown, great reproach 
would attach to the cross. Scoffers would say, that 
the religion of Him. who went about doing good, 
hardened the heart, and deadened the sensibilities. 
The alms-giving of the godless and profane would be 
contrasted with the supposed parsimony of the fol- 
lowers of Jesus. There may be times, too, when it 
would be almost, if not altogether, sinful for the 
Christian to conceal his charity. If a child of God 
have been unjustly persecuted, and stripped of his 
possessions, would it not be the bounden duty of the 
disciple of Jesus to manifest his sympathy by some 
public act of benevolence that would show the world 
his approval of his afflicted brother? The true rule 



60 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

of alms-giving, is to bestow our charity with an eye 
single to the glory of God, free from all vain and 
selfish motives. No mistakes would then be made 
either in the manner or the quantity of the alms. 

If men did not revolve their good deeds in their 
own minds, there would be no danger of their seeking 
publicity for them from a desire of human approba- 
tion. This is plainly taught in the 3d verse: "But 
when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know 
what thy right hand doeth." Now, the hands are 
parts of a man's own body, and the caution is, there- 
fore, a personal one. It is a warning to the Chris- 
tian against self-adulation. He is not to bandy about 
in his own mind the contemplation of his alms, as an 
individual tosses an article back and forward from 
hand to hand. There is a symbolic significance, too, 
in the figure employed. The right hand with the 
ancients was the type of dexterity, skill, efficiency, 
and propitiousness. The left hand was the type of 
all that was sinister, awkward, inefficient, and unpro- 
pitious. The good principle in man was symbolized 
by the former, and the evil principle by the latter. 
The Christian then is cautioned against letting the 
good principle toss over, as it were, his good deeds 
to the inspection of the evil principle. If he do, he 
will surely be prompted to vainglory on account of 
his alms, or to secret regrets for the waste of his 
substance in charity. The personality of this verse 
teaches that the disciple is first of all and specially 
to be guarded against himself. He has been "bought 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 61 

"with a price." All that he is, and all that he has, 
belong to his Redeemer. There is nothing left him 
to feed self-complacency. When he has given all, he 
must say with David, " of thine own have we given 
thee." 1 Chron. xxix. 14. 

The 4th verse suggests a remedy against ostenta- 
tion in charity. The thought, that "the Father who 
seeth in secret," is reading the heart, and scrutinizing 
its motives, surely ought to restrain from the desire 
for human praise and human approbation. But if 
that be not sufficient, let it be remembered that God 
deals with strict justice, and gives to men that which 
they covet. If his secret reward be their wish, they 
shall have it. But if they will be content with the 
good opinion of their fellow-worms of the dust, that 
alone shall be their portion. 

Secret prayer is naturally connected with unosten- 
tatious alms-giving. The true child of God is not 
content with merely relieving the wants of the perish- 
ing body. He lifts up his heart in secret for the 
blessing of God upon the charity bestowed. He 
agonizes with God for the suffering soul as well as 
for the afflicted body. The intimate connection 
between real charity and prayer, enables our Saviour 
to pass to the second great duty of religion, without 
a break in his discourse. "And when thou prayest, 
thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are ; for they love 
to pray standing in the synagogues, and in the 
corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. 
Verily, I say unto you, They have their reward. 



62 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, 
and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father 
which is in secret; and thy Father, which seeth in 
secret, shall reward thee openly. But when ye pray, 
use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they 
think that they shall be heard for their much speak- 
ing. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your 
Father knoweth what things ye have need of before 
ye ask him." (Verses 5 — 8.) 

Our Saviour passes in these verses, by a natural 
transition, from the perception by the omniscient Eye 
of the smallest mite given in secret from pure motives, 
to the hearing by the omniscient Ear of the softest 
sigh of the burdened heart, the mere breathing of 
the soul after God. Lam. iii. 56. He passes 
naturally from speaking of the hypocrisy that seeks 
glory from men by ostentatious charity, to the hypo- 
crisy that wins praise from a worm of the dust, by a 
mockery of worship of the great God of heaven. 

We observe that prayer is not enjoined as a new 
duty, but spoken of as one already known and acknow- 
ledged. "And when ye pray, &c." Prayer is in 
fact a necessity of our being. All men feel its obli- 
gation — the Pagan and the Papist, the Mahommedan 
and the Mormon, alike with the Christian. The 
sage feels his darkness and ignorance as strongly as 
the drivelling idiot. The warrior, in the midst of his 
legions and cohorts, feels his helplessness as much as 
the unarmed peasant. Even the bold blasphemer 
will "call earnestly upon God in the day of trouble." 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 63 

Men may "set at nought all his counsel, and have 
none of his reproof," in time of health and prosperity. 
But they will cry aloud "when their fear cometh as a 
desolation, and their destruction as a whirlwind." 
Who ever scoffed at prayer on a vessel foundering at 
sea? Who ever was ashamed to lift up his voice to 
the omnipotent One, when he knew "that his heart 
and flesh were failing"? "Men may live fools, but 
fools they cannot die." "As I live, saith the Lord, 
every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall 
confess to God." It is the law of God, we cannot set 
it aside. We must either "pray in an acceptable 
time" of our own free will, or God will force us to 
pray, when he "will laugh at our calamity, and mock 
when our fear cometh." Let us be wise, and pray to 
him when all is well with us; lest he be angry, and 
"cover himself with a cloud that our prayer should 
not pass through," when we call upon him in the 
extremity of our distress. 

Two things are forbidden and one enjoined, in the 
verses above quoted. Praying "to be seen of men," 
and the use of vain repetitions in prayer are posi- 
tively prohibited. Withdrawment from the world — 
retirement to the closet of his own heart, to the 
secret recesses of his own soul, is emphatically corn- 
commanded. 

It may be well to remark, that our Saviour does 
not forbid public prayer, where the motive is not the 
praise of man; neither does he forbid repetitions 
that are not vain. In regard to public prayer, we 



64 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

have the examples of the holy men of both dispensa- 
tions, the Mosaic and the Christian. Elijah prayed 
in the presence of immense multitudes of people, that 
the fire of God might descend and consume the sacra- 
fice, so that the priests of Baal might be confounded, 
and the true God be acknowledged. 1 Kings xviii. 
36, 37. David's prayer for Solomon and his people, 
■was uttered "before all the congregation." 1 Chron. 
xxix. 10 — 19. At the dedication of the temple, 
Solomon "kneeled down upon his knees before all 
the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his 
hands toward heaven, and said, &c." 2 Chron. vi. 
13 — 42. Ezra read and expounded the law in pre- 
sence of all the people, and then worshipped God. 
Neh. viiii. 5, 6. When Nehemiah had convoked a 
solemn assembly, they read one fourth part of the 
day out of the book of the law, and one fourth part 
they confessed their sins, and worshipped the Lord 
their God. Neh. ix. 3. The incense and burnt-offer- 
ing of the Jews, were, in fact, only forms of public 
worship. Our Saviour himself prayed in the presence 
of all his disciples on the way to Gethsemane ; his 
prayer of agony in the garden was before Peter, and 
James, and John; his cry of anguish on the cross 
was uttered in the hearing of the savage host around 
him. Stephen "kneeled down, and cried with a loud 
voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge," when 
the murderous shower of stones was falling upon him. 
Public prayer was offered by the Apostles at the time 
of the choosing of Matthias. The assembly of be- 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 65 

lievees were engaged in public prayer, when "they 
were all filled with the Holy Ghost." Acts iv. 31. 
Paul kneeled down and prayed with the elders of 
Ephesus; he prayed also in the presence of "the 
whole ship's company," when the vessel was about to 
be cast away. These few examples are sufficient to 
show that public prayer is a divinely appointed ordi- 
nance, and therefore not prohibited in the verses 
under consideration. Nor are earnest repetitions in 
prayer forbidden. The two blind men by the way- 
side prevailed with their one and oft repeated cry, 
"Have mercy on us, Lord, thou son of David." 
Matt. xx. 30, 31. Jesus himself used the same words 
three times in his agony in the garden. Matt. xxvi. 44. 
It is remarkable that the longest chapter in the 
Bible (119th psalm) contains a tribute in almost every 
verse to the excellency of the Scriptures, under the 
various names of law, testimony, statutes, word, judg- 
ments, precepts, and commandments. The prayer 
too, "teach me thy statutes," is repeated in it no less 
than seven times. In the 136th psalm, the words, 
"His mercy endureth for ever," occur twenty-six 
times. In Daniel's prayer for the restoration of 
Israel, he repeated the word "hear" four times. Our 
Saviour then does not condemn repetition per se, 
but that repetition which claims merit because of its 
much speaking. Such as that of the priests of Baal, 
when they cried all day, " Baal hear us." Such 
as that of the priests of Bhud, who spend whole days 
in repeating the sacred word "Urn." Such as that 
7 



66 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

of the Mohammedans, when they cry for hours the 
single word "Alia." Such as that of the Romish 
worshippers, who repeat the same salutations to the 
Virgin over and over again. In a Catholic book of 
devotions, in our possession, almost every sentence 
closes with "Ave Maria." "It is curious to observe 
the identity of character of false religion in all its 
forms — heathenism, corrupted Judaism, and corrupted 
Christianity. The poor deluded Romanists are in the 
habit of repeating the Lord's prayer and the saluta- 
tions of the Virgin in a language they do not under- 
stand; and of expecting that by the frequent repeti- 
tion of these, which they number by counting a string 
of beads, they are to obtain deliverance from the 
greatest evils, and the possession of the most impor- 
tant blessings." (See Brown's Exposition, vol. i. 
page 208.) We learn from the missionary Hue, that 
the Tartars have an improvement upon the Romish 
rosary or string of beads. They have a revolving 
disc, turned by the wind, every revolution of which 
counts a prayer. All these prayers are, of course, 
as near alike to one another as may be. In point of 
economy of time, and similarity of character, they 
are superior to the "Ave Marias" of Popery. 

Ostentatious public prayer and vain repetitions in 
prayer proceed from the same source — a low concep- 
tion of the awful character of God. He who has 
just views in regard to the august majesty of the 
Most High, can never insult him by pompous decla- 
mation in prayer, nor by a hypocritical worship of 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 67 

him in public, to gain the applause of his fellow-crea- 
tures. He who has contrasted the purity of God 
with his own vileness, can never be so vain and fool- 
ish as to think that a mummery of words, how oft 
soever repeated, can appear meritorious in the eyes of 
the Holy Being, who sees uncleanness in the very 
heavens. 

Our Saviour, then, suggests the true remedy for 
these gross perversions of prayer — "Enter into thy 
closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy 
Father which is in secret." We understand by these 
words more than the mere direction to retire from 
the public gaze. The monk and the nun may count 
their beads in the darkness of their cells. The Tartar 
may whirl his praying circle in the solitude of his 
boundless steppes of the wilderness. The profoundest 
silence and deepest retirement may bring no exalted 
ideas of God. Privacy may favour, but can never 
produce a devotional spirit. That is the gift of the 
Holy Spirit, and is independent of locality. Blind 
Bartimeus was heard by the way-side, but God 
turned a deaf ear to the prayer of the boastful Phari- 
see, though it was uttered in the temple of the Most 
High. Luke xviii. 11. 

By entering the closet then, we understand not 
merely exclusion from the world, but withdrawal from 
worldly thoughts, and musing upon the character of 
God until the fire burn. Privacy is doubtless favour- 
able to a devout frame of mind, but there may be as 
much irreverence in the cloisters of monasteries, as 



68 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

in the market-places of cities. But the example of 
our Saviour, who chose the night-season and the soli- 
tude of the mountain for his devotions, is sufficient to 
show the necessity of an occasional withdrawal from 
the noise and bustle of the world, to commune alone 
with the Father of our spirits. Secret prayer assimi- 
lates the believer to God. "'Tis the glory of God 
to conceal a thing." "The secret things belong unto 
the Lord our God." " Clouds and darkness are round 
about Him." It is the glorious privilege of the child 
of God to commune in secret with this awful and mys- 
terious Being, and thus " to be changed into his 
image." "The heart," too, alone "knows its own 
bitterness," and can only be unburdened in secret to 
Him, who "is touched with the feeling of our infirmi- 
ties." We are invited to cast all our cares upon him, 
but there are many cares that can only be cast upon 
him in secret prayer. We would prefer to be alone 
at such times, but if that be impossible, secret prayer, 
acceptable to the Father, who seeth in secret, can be 
offered, like Nehemiah's, in the very audience-cham- 
ber of the king, or like Hannah's, in the courts of the 
temple. The believer, in secret communing with 
God, makes the nearest approach that ever can be 
attained in this vale of tears to realizing the wish of 
Moses, "I beseech thee, show me thy glory." Exod. 
xxxiii. 18. God revealed himself in an especial 
manner to Moses in the solitude of Sinai; and he spoke 
to Elijah as a man speaketh to his friend, when he 
stood alone in the same desert place. 1 Kings xix. 12. 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 69 

But the angel Gabriel was "caused to fly swiftly," 
in answer to the prayer of Daniel, offered amidst 
the splendour and tumult of Shusan, the palace. 
God looks at the withdrawal of the heart and not 
of the body, from the noise and bustle of the world. 
The command to "pray always," implies that the 
heart may be lifted up in secret devotion amidst 
the most pressing duties of active life. Still, all 
should have and all might have special seasons of 
private prayer. Colonel Gardiner could find such 
seasons amidst the exciting scenes of civil war and 
domestic dissension. Washington could find such, on 
his most arduous and active campaigns. David could 
find such, even when hunted down by his enemies like 
a wild beast of the wilderness. Above all, the Son 
of God, when engaged in his glorious mission on earth, 
could find time to spend whole nights in secret prayer. 
No man can say that he is more diligently or more 
usefully employed than were Gardiner, Washington, 
David, and our blessed Redeemer. Let no one then 
dare to say that he has no time for secret prayer. 

One word in regard to the length of public prayers. 
The 8th verse condemns all windy, verbose supplica- 
tions, all rhetorical flourishes, all pompous declama- 
tion, all attempts to tickle the ear and please the 
fancy of a creature of the dust, whilst addressing the 
awful Majesty of Heaven. How offensive must it be 
to the Searcher of hearts to listen to a poor, guilty, 
dependent sinner, breathing the language of reve- 
rence and penitence, and yet at the same time exult- 
7* 



70 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

ing in the supposed eloquence, or pathos, or learning, 
of his penitential prayer. But even a truly devout 
prayer in public should not be so long, as to weary 
and distract the attention of the audience. " God is in 
heaven, and thou upon earth; therefore let thy words 
be few. For a dream cometh through the multitude 
of business; and a fool's voice is known by multi- 
tude of words." Eccles. v. 2, 3. Scott has the fol- 
lowing judicious observations on this passage. "These 
verbose supplications show indisputable traces of a 
man's ignorance and folly, and that he has confused, 
false, and dishonourable thoughts of God and reli- 
gion : even as the incoherencies of a dream often 
show the multitude of schemes, anxieties, and employ- 
ments which employ men's waking hours, and the 
prevalent disposition of their minds and hearts." 
{Commentary, vol. ii.) Our Saviour spent whole 
nights in prayer, but it was when alone upon the 
mountain's top. "The Lord save me, or I perish" of 
sinking Peter, and the "God be merciful to me a 
sinner," of the poor Publican, may reach the ears of 
the Lord of Sabaoth, when he will turn away with 
abhorrence from the bombastic jargon that sometimes 
disgraces our pulpits. 

THE LORD'S PRAYER. 

"After this manner therefore pray ye: Our 
Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. 
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth 
as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 71 

bread: and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our 
debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but de- 
liver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the 
power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. (Verses 9-13.) 

This wonderful prayer has excited the admiration 
of the wise and good throughout the world, from its 
delivery to the present hour. Even the stupid infidel 
and shallow scoffer have not failed to perceive its 
beauty, sublimity and comprehensiveness. It has 
been made the study of so many holy men, and the 
theme of so many able pens, that we will only pre- 
sume to give a brief analysis, and notice a few points. 

It is a sacred triad — for it embraces the three 
elements of prayer — invocation, supplication, and 
thanksgiving. It consists of three parts. 1st. What 
relates to the glory of God. 2d. What is required 
for the temporal and spiritual well-being of man. 
3d. Doxology, or ascription of praise to the Triune 
God. These three parts are again subdivided into 
three sections; the first two containing each three 
petitions, and the last giving the three ascriptions of 
kingdom, power, and glory to the Trinity. In each 
of the three petitions in the first two sections, there 
are three objects of consideration. Thus in the first, 
we have a name, God's name, and we pray that it 
may be hallowed. "Name," "God," and "hallowed" 
are then the three objects under consideration. In 
the second petition, they arc, " thy," "kingdom," and 
"come." In the third, "thy," "will," and "be 
done." In the fourth, "daily bread," "give," and 



72 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

"us." In the fifth, "forgive," "us," and "debts." 
In the sixth, "lead not," "us," and "temptation;" 
or taking the converse of the petition, they are " de- 
liver," "us," and "evil." The prayer, too, in its 
very language presupposes the existence in the heart 
of the utterer, of the three cardinal graces of the 
Christian character — Faith, Hope, and Charity. 

Faith. For he says "Our Father." "He that 
cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a 
rewarder of them that diligently seek him." Heb. 
xi. 6. 

Hope. For he uses the language of expectation, 
"May thy kingdom with all its blessings come. May 
my daily food be given," &c. 

Charity — Love to God and love to man. For he 
uses a sublime ascription of praise to the Triune God, 
and he asks only for pardon from God, upon condition 
of his own universal good-will to his fellow-creatures. 
"Forgive me my debts, as I forgive my debtors." 

We regard then the whole prayer as teaching, or 
rather acknowledging, the doctrine of the Trinity, by 
its form, structure, and phraseology. It is a sublime 
hymn of praise to the three persons and one essence 
in the mysterious Godhead. It seems to us that the 
petitions and the doxology are addressed to diflferent 
persons in the glorious Trinity. Thus we pray that 
the great name of God the Father may be hallowed ; 
that the kingdom of Christ may come; and that the 
will, the holy will of the Holy Spirit may be done. 
We pray that the Father of our spirits may give us 



SEKMON ON THE MOUNT. 73 

food for our bodies; that the Son, who has taken the 
penalty of our debts upon himself, may forgive these 
debts; and that the Spirit of truth, whom Christ had 
promised, may "guide us into all truth," (John xvi. 
13,) and lead us out of the paths of sin and tempta- 
tion. "VVe understand the "kingdom" in the doxology 
to be different from the "kingdom" in the second peti- 
tion. In the petition it evidently refers to the reign 
of Christ, to the triumph of the gospel of grace. But 
in the doxology, it is an ascription of absolute sove- 
reignty to God the Father, and employed in the 
same sense as in 1 Chron. xxix. 11, " Thine is the 
kingdom, Lord, and thou art exalted as head above 
all." Again, in Daniel vii. 27, " And the kingdom 
and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under 
the whole heaven, shall be given to the saints of the 
Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting king- 
dom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him." 
Nothing can be plainer than that God the Father is 
the august personage referred to in this verse, and 
that the word "kingdom" is employed to convey the 
idea of his absolute and unconditional control over the 
universe. We understand then the "kingdom," or 
absolute sovereignty, to be ascribed in the doxology 
to God the Father, while the "power" is ascribed to 
the Son, and the "glory" to the Holy Spirit. In the 
New Testament, " power" is the most common attri- 
bute of the Son. "That the power of Christ may 
rest upon me." 2 Cor. xii. 9. "That I may know 
him, and the power of his resurrection." Philip, iii. 10. 



74 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

"Until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ 

to whom be honour and power everlasting, 

Amen." 1 Tim. vi. 14-16. "And I heard a loud 
voice in heaven, saying, Now is come salvation, and 
strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power 
of his Christ." Rev. xii. 10. This verse ascribes the 
kingdom to God the Father, and the power to Christ, 
just as we find it in the doxology. The angels around 
the throne, whom John saw in his vision, cried with a 
loud voice, " Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to 
receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength," 
&c. Christ himself said, "All power is given unto 
me in heaven and in earth." Matt, xxviii. 18. 

To show that glory is an ascription of praise to the 
Holy Spirit, it is sufficient to prove that the glory of 
God is manifested specially by the work of sanctifica- 
tion, which is the office of the Spirit. " Herein is my 
Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit." John xv. 8. 
Our Saviour here declares that God is glorified by the 
fruits of the Spirit. "And whom he justified, them 
he also glorified." Rom. viii. 80. Glorification and 
sanctification are here used as synopymous terms. 
"When he shall come to be glorified in his saints and 
admired in all them that believe." 2 Thess. i. 10. 
The crown of glory of our Saviour in the great day of 
judgment, is to be his sanctified believers. " So have 
I caused the whole house of Israel and the whole 
house of Judah to cleave unto me; that they might be 
unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a 
praise, and for a glory." Jer. xiii. 11. Here God de- 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 75 

clares that his sanctified people are his glory and his 
praise. "Being filled with the fruits of righteous- 
ness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and 
praise of God." Philip, i. 11. "By righteousness, 
we understand the whole work of the Spirit of 
God in the soul of the believer." [Clarke.) The 
fruits of this righteousness the believer received a title 
to by the death of his Redeemer, but they were ma- 
tured in his soul by the genial influences of the Spirit. 
" For the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon 
you." 1 Pet. iv. 14. The Holy Ghost is in this verse 
called the Spirit of Glory, and he is said to rest upon 
the believer, as he rested upon Christ at his baptism. 
As the glory of the Triune God results specially 
from the work of sanctification, it is right that the 
ascription of glory should specially be given to the 
Spirit that sanctifies. 

A more critical examination of the Lord's Prayer 
will confirm the view, that it recognizes the doctrine of 
the Trinity. The first petition, " Hallowed be thy 
name," is certainly addressed to God the Father. 
"Name," as a title, is applied in the Old Testament 
Scriptures specially to the Father. " That thou 
mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, the lord, 
thy god." Deut. xxviii. 58. "For in the Lord 
jehovah is everlasting strength .... the desire of 
our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of 
thee." Isaiah xxvi. 4-8. "And they shall say unto 
me, What is his name? What shall I say unto them ? 
And God said unto Moses, I am that i am." Exod. 



76 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

in. 13, 14. See also Ps. xxix. 2, xxiv. 3, Ixi. 5, &c. 
We may here remark, that the application of the 
word "name" to Christ, in the sense of "any thing by 
■which he makes himself known," is to our mind a 
most conclusive proof of his divinity. " In his name 
shall the gentiles trust;" "believing, you might have 
life through his name;" "and for my name's sake has 
laboured;" "thouholdest fast my name;" "in thy 
name have we cast out devils;" "let every one that 
nameththe name of Christ depart from iniquity," &c. 

In the invocation, " Our Father, who art in heaven," 
the word "heaven" in the original Greek is plural, (tou 
tots,) the heavens, or universe. Whereas in the third 
petition, (thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,) 
the word "heaven" is singular, (touto,) and means the 
place "where his honour dwells" — the local habitation 
of angels and glorified spirits. These distinctions in 
number have been observed in the Vulgate and in the 
French copies of the New Testament. But from spe- 
cimens before us, of the Lord's Prayer in most of the 
modern languages in Europe, we infer that the differ- 
ent words employed in the original Greek have not 
been generally noticed. The distinction gives a pecu- 
liar beauty and emphasis to the third petition. We 
pray that the will of God may be done, even on this 
vile earth, as it is around the Great White Throne — 
■where angelic beings and glorified believers behold 
him face to face. 

The word "hallowed" is a compound in the origi- 
nal, and signifies literally "not of the earth."* The 
* Adam Clarke. 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 77 

earth is, in its very nature, polluted. Its touch 
denies and contaminates whatever is clean and pure. 
It was made to be trodden under foot of him, who 
was formed in the image of God. And yet he, as a 
creature of the dust, is, from his very bodily organiza- 
tion, corrupt and debased. " He that is of the earth 
is earthy." "Who can bring a clean thing out of an 
unclean?" "How can he be clean that is born of 
woman?" Even the "wisdom" of the poor fallen 
wretch, "is earthly, sensual, devilish." How then 
can this worm of the earth justify himself before 
God? Can he do it by external rites and ceremonies? 
Do we not pray that God's name may be hallowed by 
being removed from earthly taint and tarnish? All 
lip-service, all hypocritical genuflexions, all mumme- 
ries of worship, where the heart is not engaged, are 
mere bodily exercises, and are therefore, like the 
body, full of all rottenness and uncleanness. We 
pray that God's name may be removed from all this 
impurity. This prayer then contains the most com- 
plete refutation of the absurd doctrine, that men can 
work out their own salvation. Man is of the earth 
and his deeds are earthy. The stream cannot rise 
higher than the fountain. All outward acts of piety, 
alms-giving, prayer and fasting, are of the perishing 
body, and must perish with it. The Holy Spirit can 
alone fit the immortal part for the society of God and 
holy beings. "God is a Spirit, and must be wor- 
shipped in spirit and in truth." Hollow forms of 
worship are but the "sacrifice of the fool," and are 



78 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

"abomination in his sight." The doctrine of human 
inability — of the utter impossibility of corrupt mor- 
tality winning the favour of a holy God, is further 
apparent from the consideration of the fifth petition, 
"Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors." 
The word rendered forgive (aphiemen) means literally 
remit. "Remit our obligations (opheilemata) as we 
remit the obligations due to us." We are under an 
infinite obligation to God. We owe him service, love, 
obedience and gratitude. We have failed to meet 
this obligation, and are therefore justly in the condi- 
tion of the condemned debtor. Christ has assumed 
this debt for us, and this fifth petition is then appro- 
priately addressed to our Surety. We ask for free 
remission. We pray for pardon ; not upon the plea 
that we will incur no more debt — no creditor would 
accept such a plea — but we claim that the debt has 
been fully and perfectly paid. Poor, penniless, and 
dependent, we can nevertheless say to our glorious 
Surety, "Lord, remember us when thou comest into 
thy kingdom." Good works, as a ground of pardon, 
are as much excluded in the fifth petition as in the 
first. We pray that we may be forgiven, as (os) we 
forgive, not because we forgive. The fulness and free- 
ness of our forgiveness of others is to be the measure, 
not the cause, of God's forgiveness of us. Just in 
proportion to our forbearance, toleration, and kind- 
ness towards our enemies or wrongers, will God 
extend his pardon and loving-kindness to us. The 
idea is simply this, the sinner is condemned by the 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 79 

justice of God, because of his failure to pay his debt 
of duty and love. Christ has interposed in mercy to 
remit that debt; but if the sinner be relentless and 
exacting towards those who have wronged him, then 
God will require him to pay "the uttermost farthing." 
See Matthew xviii. When we pray in the sixth peti- 
tion, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us 
from evil," we of course do not charge God with 
being the author of sin. "Let no man say when he 
is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be 
tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man. 
But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of 
his own lust, and enticed." James i. 13, 14. We mean 
to ask merely that God may keep us out of the paths 
of sin and temptation; that he may so dispose of our 
affairs, and so surround us by the restraints of his 
grace, that we may not incur his displeasure and 
wrath. We pray, like Agur, to be delivered from 
the elation of prosperity and the repining of adver- 
sity. We pray that all the dispensations of God's 
providence, and all the dealings of his hand may be 
sanctified to us. We pray, in short, to be guided by 
"the Spirit of truth," for he alone can "lead us into 
all truth." The petition is in its very nature 
addressed to the third person in the glorious Trinity, 
humbly beseeching his gracious influence to control 
the heart and life of the believer. 

What a rebuke is this prayer to the empty boast 
of the perfectionist. God has declared the very 
heavens unclean in his sight, and yet a poor, pol- 



80 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

luted tiling, that sprung from the dust yesterday, 
and will return to it to-morrow, can say that he is 
pure and sinless. Yea, with matchless effrontery, he 
can even claim not to have sinned for a score of 
years. He, who "knew what was in man," taught 
his disciples a prayer, the farthest possible removed 
from this self-righteous Pharisaic spirit. It breathes 
the language of penitence, self-distrust, and depend- 
ence. "I have sinned, forgive me my sins, and guide 
me for the future, that I may sin no more against 
thy holy name." This humble frame of mind is 
surely becoming a weak, fallible creature, so continu- 
ally beset with temptation, and with no power in him- 
self to resist it. There is not an event in our lives 
that Satan cannot make the occasion of sin. Even 
afflictions, which are intended to "work out a far 
more exceeding and eternal weight of glory," may be 
rendered by the adversary of souls the sources of guilt 
and condemnation. The plagues in Egypt but har- 
dened the heart of Pharaoh. The afflictions of Job 
filled the soul of his wife with rebellion against God. 
The withering of his gourd made Jonah repine and 
wish for death. Unsanctified afflictions always harden 
the heart. How absurd then, the Popish doctrine, 
that the fires of purgatory can purify the guilty soul 
and fit it for heaven. Has Satan been thus purified? 
Have his angels been purified by the fires of the burn- 
ing lake? Did the Israelites humble themselves, 
when they felt the pangs of thirst in the wilderness? 
Did not Moses call the place Meribah as well as 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 81 

Massah? the place of chiding as well as of tempta- 
tion ? The Israelites were but types of our apostate, 
rebellious race. To all of us, the waters of Massah 
would also be the waters of Meribah, but for the sanc- 
tifying influences of his Spirit. But blessed be his 
holy name, light may be made to come out of dark- 
ness, and the believer be enabled to say, "it is good 
for me that I have been afflicted." As God set his 
glorious arch in the heavens, right over the wild 
waste of waters of the deluge, and painted it with 
sun-beams on the very clouds that had wrought the 
desolation; so he often places his bow of promise over 
our ruined hopes and wrecked affections, gilds it with 
rays from the Sun of Righteousness, and makes it 
more gorgeous and beautiful by the black storm-cloud 
of trouble in the back ground. 

There is one point that deserves our special consi- 
deration in the petition, "Lead us not into tempta- 
tion." Those who use it should be careful to avoid 
all occasions of temptation. It is but a mockery of 
God to pray against temptation, and then wilfully to 
throw ourselves in the way of it. David may have 
gone upon the housetop to pray, when his roving eye 
prompted him to lust and murder. We are com- 
manded to watch, as well as pray. We are too apt 
to neglect the former, and then call the calamities 
that result from our own folly and perverseness, trials 
of our faith, or providences of God. Thus too, many 
who live in open violation of all the laws of health, 
regard their sickness as "a chastening of the Lord." 
8* 



82 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

The sickness is no doubt of the Lord, but has it not 
been sent because his physical laws have been broken ? 
The assassin may as well claim immunity for the 
blow of his dagger, as the self-made invalid for the 
neglect of his health. Have we any more right to 
be careless of our own lives than of the lives of 
others? 

In our translation, "Deliver us from evil," the 
article the (tou) has been omitted. Literally, the 
petition is, "Deliver us from the evil." The same 
words which are here translated "evil," are trans- 
lated "the wicked one," in Matthew xiii. 19 and 38. 
1 John ii. 13, iii. 12. We think that they ought to 
have been translated so here. There are three 
sources of sin — the world, the flesh, and the devil. 
The sixth petition pleads for deliverance from all 
these. Probably, "temptation" refers to the evil 
influence of the world, and the depraved inclinations 
of our own natures. We pray that we may be so 
guided in our intercourse with the world, and so 
sanctified in our desires, that we may not be "led into 
temptation," and then add, "deliver us" from the 
power, the malice and evil suggestions of the great 
adversary of our souls. 

This view is somewhat strengthened by the fact 
that the word rendered "deliver," means more rigidly 
"break* off" — as we break off a chain. May we not 
have a reference to those "chains of darkness," with 
which Satan binds his followers, and with which he 
* Adam Clarke. 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 83 

himself will be eventually bound? 2 Peter ii. 4, 
Jude 6, Rev. xx. 3. If so, have we not expressed the 
compound idea of entire subjection to Satan and the 
progressive nature of sin? The sinner is represented 
in the Scriptures as the bond-servant of the great 
enemy of mankind. "Know ye not, that to whom ye 
yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are 
to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of 
obedience unto righteousness?" Rom. vi. 16. "Who- 
soever committeth sin, is the servant of sin." John 
viii. 34. "While they promise themselves liberty, 
they themselves are the servants of corruption; for of 
whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in 
bondage." 2 Peter ii. 19. Was not the bondage 
in Egypt but a type of the more cruel subjection to 
sin and Satan? 

Sin is progressive. As the chain which the adver- 
sary of souls throws around his victims is composed 
of links, so sin follows sin in a regular concatenated 
series. The Roman tyrant, whose atrocities have 
been the wonder of the world for so many genera- 
tions, began his career of cruelty with the torture of 
flies. "What, is thy servant a dog that he should do 
this great thing," replied the indignant Syrian leader, 
when told by the prophet Elisha the enormities that 
he should commit. And yet he advanced step by step 
in his career of crime, until he had committed all the 
horrible cruelties that were predicted. So, too, with 
David, the wanton look was followed by lust, adul- 
tery, deception, and murder. 



84 CONSIDERATION OP THE 

We cannot conclude our notice of the Lord's 
Prayer without making the obvious remark, that the 
great object of desire in it is the glory of the triune 
God. " The Lord has made all things for himself, 
even the sinner for the day of evil." We are bound 
then to "glorify him with our bodies and our spirits, 
which are his." The prayer taught by our Saviour 
embodies this central idea. It begins with invoca- 
tion and ends with praise. God is first and God is 
last in it. The one special petition is "Hallowed be 
thy name" — and that it may be hallowed, we pray 
for the coming of Christ's kingdom, and the fulfilment 
of his holy will on earth as it is in heaven. Even our 
personal petitions have reference to the same thing. 
We ask that we may be fed "with food convenient 
for us, lest we be poor and steal, and take the name 
of our God in vain." Prov. xxx. 8, 9. We ask for 
the pardon of our sins, so that no longer oppressed 
with the sense of guilt, "a new song may be put in 
our mouths, even praise unto our God." Ps. xl. 3. 
We ask that the Holy Spirit may lead us out of the 
paths of temptation, and deliver us from the bondage 
of Satan, in order "that we may show forth the 
praises of him who hath called us out of darkness into 
his marvellous light." 1 Peter ii. 9. The supply of 
our temporal wants, the pardon of our sins, and the 
sanctification of our natures, are all sought as means 
to one great end — that "the King, eternal, invisible, 
the only wise God, may have honour and glory for 
ever, Amen." 1 Tim. i. 17. 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 85 

It is a remarkable and a most significant fact, that our 
Saviour only commented on that portion of the Lord's 
Prayer which relates to the forgiveness of injuries. 
" For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly 
Father will also forgive you. But if ye forgive not men 
their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your 
trespasses." (Verses 14, 15.) The reason of this spe- 
cial comment is plain. Jesus knew the heart of man. 
"All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of 
him with whom we have to do." Heb. iv. 3. He 
knew that the hardest duty, even for the Christian, 
is the duty of forgiveness. Luke tells us that, when 
on a certain occasion our Saviour had reiterated the 
command to forgive, the Apostles cried out, "Lord in- 
crease our faith." They felt their inability to accord 
obedience, without a larger supply of grace. Revenge 
was a virtue among the cultivated Greeks and Ro- 
mans. The wisest and best of their philosophers 
inculcated it as a duty. The refined Athenians built 
temples and erected altars to Ate, the goddess of 
hatred and vengeance. The American Indian thinks 
that the Great Spirit will be offended with him, if he 
permit personal and family wrongs to go unavenged. 
Nearly all the wars that have desolated our earth and 
drenched it with blood, have been prompted by the 
fell spirit of vengeance. Was it not the infernal 
thirst of Satan for revenge, that brought death and 
sin into the world? — that changed the bloom and fra- 
grance of Paradise into thorns and thistles, rotten- 
ness and putridity ? — that changed the hymn of praise 



86 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

and song of gratitude into horrid blasphemy and the 
wail of despair? The spirit of revenge is the spirit 
of the pit of darkness. It should find no resting-place 
in the bosom of a child of God and an heir of the 
skies. Even according to heathen mythology, Ate 
was thrust out from heaven. If a heathen Jupiter, 
with all his abominations, could not tolerate so foul a 
spirit, how can we expect our Heavenly Father to 
look upon it with the least allowance? He has for- 
bidden revenge in the most solemn manner. The 
Jew was not even allowed to hate his oppressor, the 
Egyptian. While the Israelite was yet smarting 
under a sense of his wrongs in Egypt, God proclaimed 
by the mouth of Moses, "thou shalt not abhor an 
Egyptian." Deut. xxiii. 7. There are many other 
positive prohibitions against revenge in the books of 
Moses. See particularly, Exod. xxiii. 4, 5, and Levit. 
xix. 18. The Apostle Paul, following up the teaching 
of Moses and our Saviour, has forbidden us from 
requiting our own wrongs, upon the highest possible 
ground. "Avenge not yourselves, but rather give 
place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is 
mine, I will repay, saith the Lord." Rom. xii. 19. 
He who takes the redress of his injuries in his own 
hands, is thus shown to arrogate to himself a right 
belonging exclusively to God. "Shall not the Judge 
of all the earth do right?" May we not leave the 
rectification of all our wrongs in his hands? 

There are several things in the 14th and 15th 
verses above quoted, which deserve our particular 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 87 

attention. The substitution of trespasses for debts, 
[paraptomata for opheilemata,) is peculiarly signifi- 
cant. The word rendered "trespasses," comes from a 
verb that means "to fall off." Trespasses are then 
"fallings off," failings, little slips in duty. If ye for- 
give men their little failings, your Heavenly Father 
will forgive you, not your little failings, but you, the 
great debtor. If you will forgive your fellow-servant 
the hundred pence due you, your Master will pardon 
you for the ten thousand talents due to him. Matt, 
xviii. But if ye forgive not men their little failings, 
neither will your Father forgive you your little fail- 
ings. He will hold you to account, even to the utter- 
most farthing. The non-repetition of trespasses in 
the 14th verse, and its repetition in the 15th, are pe- 
culiarly instructive. The omission shows that the par- 
don, extended to the kind and forgiving, embraces both 
their great sins and little failings, (both opheilemata 
and paraptomata;) while the repetition shows that the 
relentless and unforgiving are held to a strict account 
for small as well as great offences. Again, the omis- 
sion of the adjective "heavenly," in the 15th verse, 
is full of meaning. God is the Father of the wicked 
and unforgiving, as well as of the holy and gentle, but 
he is not their "heavenly" Father. Heaven is his 
holy habitation. The revengeful can never meet him 
there. They cannot speak of him, as absent children 
speak of a beloved parent away at the old homestead, 
where they one day expect to join him. 

The importance of a full, hearty, and perfect for- 



88 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

giveness of our enemies, cannot be over-estimated. 
Christ has made it the test of discipleship. The 
Father has declined being called heavenly Parent by 
the revengeful and unforgiving. They have nothing 
heavenly about them. Heaven is peopled by the for- 
given and the forgiving. We are in a fearful condi- 
tion, if we are deluding ourselves as to the reality of 
our free forgiveness. If the monster revenge have 
been lurking in our bosoms, and we all unconscious of 
his presence, is there no spear of Ithuriel to dissolve 
the enchantment and show him in all his hideous pro- 
portions? May we not apply this test to the sincerity 
of our professions of forgiveness? Would we rather 
hear good than evil spoken of our enemy? Do we re- 
joice in his lawful prosperity? Do we take sincere 
delight in praying for him? If we are gratified by the 
good fame of our enemy, when fully deserved; by his 
success in life, honestly gained; and if, in addition, 
we can feel it to be a privilege to pray for him, we 
may safely conclude that we have no malice against 
him in our hearts. But we are not bound to rejoice 
in the ill-deserved reputation of our enemy, nor in his 
dishonest gains. Still, if his unlawful success give us 
pain, not because it is unlawful, but because it is 
success, we may be sure that he is not forgiven. 

FASTING. 

" Moreover, when ye fast, be not as the hypocrites, 
of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces 
that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily, I say 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 89 

unto you, they have their reward. But thou, when 
thou fastest, anoint thy head and wash thy face ; that 
thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father 
which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in 
secret, shall reward thee openly." (Verses 16-18.) 
Our Saviour, in these verses, prescribes the rules 
which are to regulate his disciples in that important 
religious duty, fasting. We notice that the language 
of our Saviour implies the observance of fasting on 
the part of his disciples — " When ye fast." It would 
indeed be strange, if Christians neglected a duty, 
whose binding obligation has been felt by the Jews, 
by the Mohammedans, and even by the heathen, from 
the remotest time to the present day. Brown of Had- 
dington, well observes, " The light of nature and word 
of God direct us, that whenever we have fallen into 
grievous sins; when we feel or fear the infliction of 
God's judgments; or when we have distinguished 
need of some special mercy and assistance, we ought, 
by fasting and prayer, solemnly to bewail our sins, 
supplicate forgiveness thereof, implore the averting or 
removal of judgments, and request the bestowal of 
necessary favour and help." So clearly has the light 
of nature (as above stated) made fasting a duty, that 
there probably never existed a nation which did not 
observe stated fasts. The Jews had an annual fast on 
the 10th day of the month Tisri. The Egyptians, 
Phoenicians, Assyrians, Greeks, and Romans, had 
also their stated fasts. The Roman Emperors were 
accustomed to observe these days with great solem- 



90 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

nity. We read of the fasting of Nuraa Pompilius, 
Julius Caesar, Augustus, Vespasian, and others. Ma- 
homet enjoined this duty in an especial manner upon 
all his followers. He was accustomed to say that 
"fasting was the gate of heaven, and that the odour 
of the mouth of him who fasteth is more grateful to 
God than that of musk." Pythagoras and all his sect 
rigidly performed the duty of fasting. The North 
American Indians were accustomed to set apart days 
for fasting before engaging in war. Fasting is an 
important religious exercise among the Hindoos, the 
Tartars, the Chinese, &c, who live at the present 
day. Two ideas seem to have pervaded the human 
mind universally. The first is, that " without shed- 
ding of blood, there can be no remission of sin." For 
bloody sacrifices have existed everywhere, in all ages 
of the world. The second is, that offended Deity may 
be appeased by fasting, humiliation, and prayer. 
These two ideas are more universal even than the tra- 
dition of the deluge. 

The Holy Scriptures record many instances of 
fasting, and of God's gracious acceptance of some of 
them. Moses fasted thrice for the space of forty 
days. Elijah and our Saviour, each once for the 
same period. David fasted during the sickness of his 
child. Part of the threatened calamity was averted 
from Ahab, because of his humiliation and fasting. 
Daniel was fasting when the angel Gabriel was 
caused to fly swiftly with a gracious answer to his 
prayer. The fast and repentance of the Ninevites 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 91 

saved them from destruction. The mourning, fasting, 
and prayer of Esther, Mordecai, and their people, 
thwarted the wicked schemes of Haman, and preserved 
the Jewish nation from destruction. Jehoshaphat 
and his subjects observed a solemn fast when they 
heard of the invasion of the Moabites and Edomites; 
and the Lord gave his people a miraculous victory 
over their enemies. 2 Chron. xx. 

The universal recognition of fasting as a religious 
duty, the example of our Saviour, and the holy men 
of old, the gracious acceptance of God — all these 
teach us that fasting is a very important part of 
devotion. The neglect of this great duty in Protes- 
tant countries, may be owing somewhat to the con- 
tempt felt for the mock fasts of the Romish Church. 
It becomes us, however, to reflect that our aversion 
for Popish festivals, and Popish rites and ceremonies, 
can never excuse us for the non-observance of a high 
and sacred duty. The fact that our Saviour did not 
prescribe the time, the length, and the occasion of 
fasts, does not prove that he did not regard abstinence 
from food, at special seasons, as a religious exercise. 
It only proves that his religion is not one of ritualism 
and formalism. Had he given particular rules in 
regard to these things, a solemn devotional service 
would have been converted into an empty form — like 
the Lent of the Romish Church. Men are prone to 
make their religion consist in forms and ceremonies. 
God requires spiritual worship. Christ enjoined 
on his disciples the inner worship of the heart, and 



92 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

not the outer of unmeaning rites. This accounts for 
his not giving any directions about the proper posture 
in prayer, nor in regard to the mode of baptism, &c. 
Bigotry and formalism attach great importance to 
externals, our Saviour attached none. The inference 
then is rash, that because he did not leave minute 
instructions to regulate fasting, therefore it is not a 
duty. The same reasoning would apply, with as much 
force, to baptism, alms-giving, and prayer. The 
example of our Saviour, and his language, when 
speaking of fasting, are sufficient to show how he 
regarded it. He has wisely left the performance of 
the duty to be modified by the age, the health, and 
the condition of the penitent. 

It may be well to notice critically, a few of the 
words employed in the preceding verses. The word 
rendered "fast" is a compound, and means literally 
"not to eat." This signification is sufficient to 
explode the theory of some, that fasting is abstinence 
from sin and not from food. Isaiah has taught us 
that during the season of fast, we should endeavour 
to remember the wrongs that we have committed, and 
make ample redress to the injured; but he does not 
tell us that we are not to abstain from food. He 
merely corrects a too common error with formalists, 
that the outward act is acceptable to God. 

The word rendered "hypocrites," means more 
literally, dissemblers, stage-actors. The godless are 
prone to charge Christians with hypocrisy, and infidels 
have had the effrontery to denounce the religion of 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 93 

our blessed Redeemer on this very ground. Now 
there would be something fair and manly in this 
denunciation of scepticism, if our Saviour had en- 
couraged hypocrisy, or had even failed to censure it. 
But where can there be found more solemn rebukes of 
this grievous sin, than in the public instructions of 
our Lord? Were there ever more fearful woes uttered 
than those he pronounced against the hypocritical 
Scribes and Pharisees? See Matt, xxiii. And does 
he not teach in this very Sermon on the Mount, that 
God "seeth in secret" — that he cannot be deceived, 
and will not be mocked? Our Saviour will not claim 
a hypocrite as his disciple; what right then has 
the scoffer to place him in the ranks of the Re- 
deemer? 

The word rendered "sad," might have been more 
appropriately translated "sour," or "morose." The 
hypocrite may well be "morose." God abhors him, 
the world despises him, and conscience troubles him. 
In the whole universe there is no more pitiable, and 
no less pitied creature than he. 

The rebuke of moroseness, contained in the above 
verses, should be well pondered by every Christian. 
Surely he, of all men on earth, ought to be cheerful. 
How can he who has God for his friend, and heaven 
for his home, indulge in sullenness and gloom ? Come 
what may, he knows that "it shall be well with the 
righteous." He may lose children, friends, health, 
reputation, property, still he knows that "all things 
shall work together for his good." Let him then 
9* 



94 



CONSIDERATION OF THE 



show forth his cheerfulness and "contentment," as 
well as his "godliness," that others may get "great 
gain" from his example. The moroseness and austerity 
of some professed Christians, have done much injury 
to the cause of the Redeemer, and brought great 
reproach upon his religion. The sour countenance of 
Pharisaic disciples have often made the young regard 
Christianity as the embodiment of all that is dismal 
and lugubrious; and thus a stone of stumbling has 
been thrown in the way of the youthful and light- 
hearted. Historians tell us that the ribaldry, buf- 
foonery, and gross licentiousness, during the reign of 
Charles II. of England, were brought about in good 
part, by the national disgust at the cant, nasal tones, 
long prayers, and sour visages, of the Puritans. 
Those who could not appreciate the bright and noble 
qualities of the Puritans, could ridicule their dress 
and manner. Had the purest and best men, that the 
world has ever produced, been more cheerful, more 
joyous, more courteous, and more conciliating, Eng- 
land might have been spared the ignominy of the 
disgraceful reigns of Charles II. and James II. The£ 
fact is, that the Puritans at the outset never could 
have gained a party sufficiently strong to overthrow 
the throne of Charles L, but for the popularity of 
their great leader, John Hampden. All know how 
much of this popularity was due to that "natural 
cheerfulness, vivacity, and flowing courtesy to all 
men," of which Clarendon speaks. The broad and 
genial humour of John Bunyan, makes him more read 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 95 

than any other author. The same quality in Spurgeon 
makes him the most popular of living preachers. Our 
Saviour, though "a man of sorrow, and acquainted 
with grief," yet mixed freely with the people in kind 
and cheerful conversation. He honoured a marriage 
by his presence. He ate with publicans and sinners. 
He talked with a poor ignorant woman by the well 
of Samaria. He wept with the bereaved sisters at 
the grave of their brother Lazarus. All this shows 
a disposition the farthest removed from the sullen and 
selfish gloom of morbid religion, 

COVETOUSNESS. 

"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, 
where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves 
break through and steal : but lay up for yourselves 
treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth 
corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor 
steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart 
be also." (Verses 19 — 21.) 

The last verse explains the meaning of the word 
"treasure," as employed here, and also points out the 
connection between these three verses and those which 
immediately precede them. Treasure is any thing 
upon which the heart is set; whether that be wealth, 
rank, reputation, worldly grandeur, friends, luxury, 
or what not. The Pharisees made the good opinion 
of men their treasure, and were ostentatious in alms- 
giving, prayer, and fasting, to gain that good opinion. 
Our Saviour, after condemning them for seeking this 



96 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

species of treasure, proceeds to warn his disciples 
against every other form of worldliness. Special re- 
ference may be had to the inordinate thirst for wealth 
— the low sordid vice of covetousness. This is the 
great sin of the Church — the great sin of the age — 
the sin that dishonours God and brings reproach upon 
the Christian name — the sin that " tramples under 
foot the blood of the covenant, and esteems it an unholy 
thing." Twenty-five hundred years ago, the Prophet 
Amos lifted up his warning voice against the low, de- 
basing vice, that hardens all within, and stifles every 
generous emotion and kindly sympathy. The covet- 
ous "sells the righteous for silver, and the poor for 
a pair of shoes, and pants after the dust of the earth 
on the head of the poor." Amos ii. 6, 7. The covet- 
ous takes away all that the poor working man has, 
and then begrudges him the little dust that the sweat 
of labour has accumulated on his brow! The Saviour 
took up the warning, and taught, " Lay not up for 
yourselves treasure upon earth." But spite of his 
teaching, the broad road to death is thronged with 
the followers of Mammon; hell is overflowing with his 
worshippers. The great Apostle to the Gentiles, who 
had studied so much, travelled so much, and gained 
such an intimate acquaintance with human nature, has 
left his testimony that "covetousness is idolatry," and 
that "they who will be rich, fall into temptation and a 
snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which 
drown men in destruction and perdition. For, the 
love of money is the root of all evil: which, while 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 97 

some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, 
and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." 
Col, iii. 5; 1 Tim. vi. 9, 10. All history, and all 
experience confirm the testimony, that the covetous do 
fall into many foolish and hurtful lusts, and do pierce 
themselves through with many sorrows. But is the 
world any wiser and better from the instruction of 
the "Philosophy that teaches by example"? Were 
mankind ever so absorbed, body and soul, in the pur- 
suit of wealth, as in the middle of this the nineteenth 
century? How many of the votaries of Mammon 
would almost as soon think of giving their hearts' 
blood, as any portion of their wealth, to advance the 
kingdom of their Redeemer. Alas, the mighty dollar 
looms up before them with a lustre and brilliance suf- 
ficient to obscure the beams of the Sun of Righteous- 
ness. 

The disciple, who had the distinction of being the 
first Bishop of Jerusalem, who was the near relative, 
if not the brother, of our Lord, and who was the only 
one of the disciples honoured by a private interview 
with the risen Saviour, (1 Cor. xv. 7,) denounces 
covetousness in the strongest terms. " Your gold and 
silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a 
witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it 
were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for 
the last days." James v. 3. There is no mistaking 
this language. Riches, which are allowed to rust, 
because not employed in the service of Christ, shall 
be converted into penal fires in the great day of 



98 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

Judgment, and shall burn and torture their wretched 
possessors for ever and for ever. 

When the great Jewish law-giver came into the 
presence of the worshippers of the golden calf, he 
threw down and broke into pieces the tables of the 
law written by the finger of God himself. Here we 
have taught in a symbol, the melancholy fact, of per- 
petual recurrence, though we as perpetually shut our 
eyes against it, that God's holy law is ever thrown 
down and trampled under foot, when gold is set up as 
an object of idolatry. Our court-houses, our jails, 
our penitentiaries, our gibbets, proclaim the same 
truth. The wail comes up from the lurid flames of 
perdition, "we despised and trampled upon the com- 
mandments of the Most High, from the cursed thirst 
for gold, and we are here." Moreover, the story of 
the broken tables of the law, teaches us the brutish 
nature of the worship of Mammon. "We are sick," 
says the eloquent Macaulay, "like the children of 
Israel, of the objects of our old and legitimate wor- 
ship. We pine for a new idolatry. All that is costly 
and all that is ornamental in our intellectual treasures 
must be delivered up and cast into the furnace," that 
there may come out a calf for rational and immortal 
creatures to fall down and worship. God is a Spirit, 
and his service is spiritual and elevating; the worship 
of Mammon, like that of the golden calf, is brutal- 
izing and degrading. But while covetousness is a 
base and brutish sin in the man of the world, it is a 
crime of the blackest dye in the professed Christian. 






SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 99 

God cannot be deceived, he will not be mocked. With 
what abhorrence must he listen to the prayer of the 
nominal Christian, " Thy kingdom come, thy will be 
done," when, at the same time that he prays, he 
grasps his purse-strings with the tenacity of death, 
and gives nothing, or the merest trifle, to advance 
the interests of that kingdom, and promote compli- 
ance with that holy will. There is an awful mockery 
in the prayer that might make Satan and his infernal 
hosts shudder with horror. Talk to this mocker about 
the claims of the Church of Christ upon his substance, 
and he is as deaf, and cold, and inanimate as the 
granite blocks of New Hampshire. But the slightest 
whisper of gain, will vibrate upon his auditory nerve 
with a thrill that is felt in his inmost soul. 

Our Saviour has given us the best of all reasons 
for indifference to worldly treasures — their insecurity. 
"The fashion of this world passeth away." Passing 
away, is written upon all beneath the skies. "Riches 
certainly make themselves wings; they fly away, as 
an eagle toward heaven." Fame is the breath of the 
fickle multitude, who cry hosannah one day, and 
crucify him the next. Relations and friends will die. 
The worm will feast and batten on those we love as 
our own souls. 

" The knell, the shroud, the mattock, and the grave, 
The deep damp vault, the darkness, and the worm." 

0, with what appalling emphasis they proclaim 
the folly of setting our affections upon anything 



100 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

earthly. The Lord alone "changes not." Mai. iii. 6. 
Father in Heaven, help us to love thee supremely, so 
that we may have an enduring treasure left, when the 
vines that cluster in beauty and fragrance around our 
heads, wither like Jonah's gourd from the gnawing of 
the worm at the root. 

Critical exegesis. The word rendered "moth" 
comes from a verb, which signifies to putrefy. The 
word rendered "rust" is from a verb that means to 
eat. " Thieves break through" might have been more 
literally rendered, "thieves dig through." The houses 
in the East are generally made of sun-dried brick, 
and the walls can readily be dug through. The houses 
in Mexico are chiefly of the adobes, and in the attack 
on Monterey the American troops advanced into the 
heart of the city by digging occasionally through the 
walls of courts and houses. They thus kept them- 
selves sheltered from the view and fire of the enemy. 

We are taught impressively by the allusions to the 
moth, the rust, and the thieves, the uncertainty of 
earthly possessions, whether they consist in dress, 
money, or dwellings. The animal and the mineral 
kingdom are at war against our treasures. Even our 
fellow-creatures seek to rob and despoil us of them. 
Why then should we set our hearts upon a thing so 
uncertain as worldly wealth? Let us learn to lay up 
our store in " heaven." This word is in the singular 
number in the original, and means the local habita- 
tion of glorified spirits. There only, is there security. 
Even a heathen philosopher could perceive the folly 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 101 

of boasting about uncertain riches. Herodotus tells 
us that when Croesus, king of Lydia, boastfully exhib- 
ited his vast treasures to Solon, the Athenian philoso- 
pher, and inquired of him if he would not pronounce the 
owner thereof the happiest of men ; Solon plainly told 
him that he could call no man happy before his death, 
because it could not be foreseen what would happen 
unto him. This same Croesus was in fact besieged in 
Sardis, by Cyrus the Mede, and on the capture of the 
city, was condemned to be burned to death. When 
the soldiers were piling the faggots around the un- 
happy Croesus, he cried aloud three times, " Solon, 
Solon, Solon." This so excited the curiosity of Cyrus 
that he inquired the reason of the exclamation, and 
upon being told of what Solon had said, he began to 
reflect upon the precariousness of his own power and 
the insecurity of his own treasures, and was so soft- 
ened by the reflection, that he pardoned Croesus, and 
ever after treated him with kindness. If the testi- 
mony of Herodotus, Diodorus Siculus, and Justin, 
can be relied upon, Cyrus may well have felt the un- 
certainty of his own posicion, for they say that he 
perished in battle with the Scythians. 

CONSCIENCE. 

" The light of the body is the eye : if therefore 

thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of 

light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall 

be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in 

10 



102 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

thee be darkness, how great is that darkness !" (Verses 
09 23 ) 

*These verses explain the nature and office of con- 
science. Two things are necessary to clearness of 
vision-sufficiency of light and soundness of eye. 
Two things are indispensable, in order that the dicta 
of conscience may be infallible-an enlightened un- 
derstanding and a sanctified heart. The former is 
represented in the beautiful figure of our Saviour, by 
light-the usual symbol of knowledge. The latter is 
symbolized by the eye; for the eye guides and directs 
the natural man, as the heart does the moral man 
" Out of the heart are the issues of life." " Out of 
the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh." 
Our moral movements are thus shown to be controlled 
by the heart, just as our natural movements are by 
the eye. If the eye be perfectly healthy and abun- 
dantly supplied with light, its perception will be un- 
erring within the limit of vision. So if the under- 
standing be perfectly enlightened, and the heart be 
perfectly sanctified, conscience will always approve the 
right and disapprove the wrong. But conscience is a 
ve & ry unsafe guide, unless these two conditions be per- 
fectly fulfilled. Its monitions were unerring before 
the fall. They have never been so since. And just 
in proportion to the ignorance and corruption of man 
does the voice of conscience "give an uncertain 
sound." Just here lies the mistake of fanaticism. 
The fanatic places his conscience above the Bible, yea, 
above God himself. He makes conscience a rule of 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 103 

right — a guide in moral conduct. It is no such thing. 
It is simply a faculty of mind, which approves our 
conduct when consistent with our ideas of right, and 
disapproves our conduct when inconsistent with those 
ideas. This is conscience in its perfect state; but it 
may be "seared as with a hot iron,-" (1 Tim. iv. 2,) 
and neither approve nor disapprove. " The word of 
God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and 
New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we 
may glorify and enjoy him." Persecuting Saul, when 
" he verily thought within himself that he ought to do 
many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Naza- 
reth," had just as approving a conscience as the mar- 
tyr Paul at the tribunal of Nero. The Ammonite 
mother, when she placed her child in the arms of the 
thrice-heated image of Moloch, had just as much the 
approbation of her conscience, as had the pious Han- 
nah when she devoted her unborn child to the service 
of the living God. The approving conscience sus- 
tains the Hindoo widow when she mounts the funeral 
pile of her husband, to be burnt to ashes. The fact is 
that men cannot embark in any enterprise with the 
clamour of conscience against them. They must 
either stifle it or win it to their side. " Conscience 
makes cowards of us all," said the greatest of unin- 
spired men. This accounts for the extraordinary in- 
genuity of all mankind in framing excuses and making 
palliations for their conduct. Adam laid his sin at the 
door of Eve, and she excused herself and criminated 
the serpent. Thus it has ever been with all their 



104 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

descendants. "All the ways of a man are right in 
his own eyes," said the wise king of Israel. We 
are inclined to think that few have the hardihood 
knowingly and wilfully to commit an act that they 
believe at the time to be heinously sinful. From what 
the Bible teaches us of the temptations of Satan, we 
learn that the art of the great Adversary consists in 
making sin appear venial or altogether innocent. 
Thus he tempted our Saviour to cast himself from the 
pinnacle of the temple, that he might cause a pro- 
phecy concerning the Messiah to be fulfilled. The 
most cruel and remorseless of persecutors have ever 
been those whose consciences approved of their per- 
secution. 

Catherine de Medicis could go in solemn proces- 
sion to return thanks to the Most High, for the 
massacre of St. Bartholomew. Laud was the most 
unfeeling of persecutors, because the most conscien- 
tious of bigots. Cotton Mather was zealous in the 
cause of religion when busiest in torturing old women 
for witchcraft. Again, we have another phase of 
perverted conscience in the impure and licentious. 
"Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them 
that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but 
even their mind and conscience is defiled." Tit. i. 15. 
Adultery, fornication, and polygamy, have had their 
advocates and defenders. Infidels of learning and 
intelligence have contended that there was nothing 
wrong in these things. Again, we have another 
phase of perverted conscience in the hypocrite, whose 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 105 

whole life is a lie, yet who so sears his conscience that 
its monitions give him no trouble. "Speaking lies in 
hypocrisy; having their consciences seared with a hot 
iron." 1 Tim. iv. 2. Again, we have another phase 
of perverted conscience in the turbulent, the litigious, 
and the brawling, who justifies his evil passions, and 
exclaims with Jonah, "I do well to be angry, even 
unto death." And so the murderer, the duellist, the 
rake, the robber; each has his plea of justification of 
his crimes. No one understood the tricks of con- 
science better than the Apostle Paul, who had himself 
been the dupe of it. We find him accordingly speak- 
ing of a "defiled conscience," Titus i. 15; of a 
"seared conscience;" of an "evil conscience," Heb. 
x. 22: again, of a "conscience purged from dead 
works," Heb. ix. 14; of a "pure conscience," 1 Tim. 
iii. 9; of a "good conscience," Heb. xiii. 18; of a 
"conscience void of offence toward God and toward 
men." Acts xxiv. 16. If Paley had studied the 
teachings of God's word in regard to conscience, he 
never could have said, "It seems to me either that 
there exists no such instincts as compose what is 
called the moral sense, or that they are not now to be 
distinguished from prejudices and habits." He had 
observed that these instincts depended upon "the 
exigencies, the climate, situation, or local circum- 
stances of the country," and, therefore, he justly 
concluded, that all this "looked very little like the 
steady hand and indelible characters of nature." 
The blunder of Paley and all of his school is easily 
10* 



106 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

exposed. They mistook entirely the nature and 
office of conscience. Believing it to be the function 
of conscience to give infallible directions in regard to 
moral deportment, and perceiving that men in every 
age of the world had committed the most atrocious 
crimes, conscientiously and in good faith, they con- 
cluded that there was no such thing as the moral 
sense. Their reasoning is sound, but their premise is 
wrong. Conscience is not a moral guide. The word 
of God is our only rule of right. It alone is " a lamp 
to our feet, and a light to our path." Conscience is 
a safe pilot over the turbid sea of life to him alone 
whose mind is perfectly wise, and whose heart is 
perfectly pure. Just as the eye points out the right 
path, when it has plenty of light, and there is no 
visual defect. All sin proceeds either from ignorance 
or innate depravity, or from both combined. The 
heathen and the uncultivated may wish to serve God 
aright, but they have not the requisite knowledge. 
Light is wanting. The refined and educated sinner 
hates God, because his heart is wicked. The eye 
itself is unsound. "0 send out thy light and thy 
truth," was the prayer of David, and should be the 
prayer of every child of God. The last command of 
the risen Saviour, before leaving this scene of his 
suffering, was to spread abroad this light and this 
truth. One-half of what is spent in luxury and folly 
by those who profess to obey the Lord Jesus, would 
place a copy of the Holy Scriptures in the hands of 
every living creature. But even should this great 



SEKMON ON THE MOUNT. 107 

and glorious work be accomplished, there would yet 
remain much to be done. Light is not all that is 
needed. Knowledge, even religious knowledge, cannot 
save the soul. The doctors of the Sorbonne, the 
learned cardinals of the consistories of Rome, may 
know the truth and hate it too. .To cultivate the 
intellect and leave the heart unaffected, is but to 
increase the capacity for evil. The learning of Ger- 
many has run into pantheistic infidelity. The splendid 
achievements of France in literature and the arts and 
sciences, are only surpassed by her heaven-defying 
wickedness. The traveller Livingstone tells us, that 
the most corrupt portions of Africa are those which 
have been in contact with European intelligence and 
civilization. 

We ought not then merely to send out the light of 
God's word to "the dark places of the earth, which 
are full of the habitations of cruelty," but we ought 
also earnestly to pray that his Holy Spirit may carry 
home the truth to the heart and conscience of the 
whole heathen world. 

We cannot dismiss the subject of conscience with- 
out referring to its fearful stings in the world of end- 
less woe. We have seen that ignorance and the 
depravity of the heart modify the effects of con- 
science in this life. The corruption of our natures has 
a twofold influence. It makes us listen to the sugges- 
tions of evil passions, and also to the temptations of 
Satan. But these three modifying influences do not 
exist in hell. Knowledge is perfect there. The 



108 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

sinner there perceives the enormity of his crimes in 
the light of eternity. He then understands perfectly 
the amazing folly and wickedness of rejecting a cruci- 
fied Saviour. Neither will the second influence per- 
vert conscience. There will then be no lusts to 
gratify. And lastly, Satan will be on the side of 
conscience, to add to the torture of the poor lost soul. 
His taunts and jeers will echo back the merciless 
rebukes of conscience. Penitence will then be 
changed into remorse, and conscience into the worm 
that never dies. 

"With a thousand snaky heads 
Eyed each with double orbs of glaring wrath ; 
And with as many tails, that twisted out 
In horrid revolution, tipped with stings; 
And all its mouths, that wide and darkly gaped, 
And breathed most poisonous breath, had each a sting 
Forked, and long, and venomous, and sharp; 
And, in its writhings infinite, it grasped 
Malignantly what seemed a heart, swollen, black, 
And quivering with torture most intense; 
And still the heart, with anguish throbbing high, 
Made effort to escape, but could not; for 
Howe'er it turned, and oft it vainly turned, 
These complicated foldings held it fast. 
And still the monstrous beast with sting of head 
Or tail transpierced it, bleeding evermore."* 

None can think this picture too highly coloured, 

who have observed the torture inflicted by awakened 

conscience even in this world, where all are ready 

"with some sweet oblivious antidote to cleanse the 

* Course of Time, Book I. 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 109 

foul bosom of that perilous stuff which weighs upon 
the heart." How often do we hear of men preferring 
the agonies of death to the stings of remorse, and of 
their risking the terrors of eternity, rather than endure 
the agony of conscious guilt. Thus Judas hanged 
himself, rather than bear the reproaches of conscience. 
The days, and especially the nights, of Charles IX. of 
France, after the massacre of St. Bartholomew, are 
described as having been full of horror and agony 
unutterable. His murdered victims seemed ever to be 
stalking into his presence, " shaking their gory locks 
at him." His mental suffering was so great, at times, 
that the blood burst through the pores of his skin. 
Hear the language of one, whose worst sins were 
scarce so black as the best virtues of Charles. "I 
walked," says John Bunyan, "to a neighbouring town, 
and sat down on a settle in the street, and fell into a 
very deep muse about the most fearful state my sins 
had brought me to ; but methought I saw as if the 
sun that shineth in the heavens did grudge to give 
me light; and as if the very stones in the streets and 
tiles upon the houses did band themselves against me. 
Methought that they all combined together to banish 
me out of the world. I was abhorred of them and 
unfit to dwell among them, because I had sinned 
against the Saviour. 0, how happy now was every 
creature over I, for they stood fast and kept their 
station; but I was gone and lost." If conscience can 
produce such horrible effects in this world, where igno- 
rance, pride, self-love, and the delusions of Satan, all 



110 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

conspire to blunt its sting, how fearful must be its 
torture amid the sulphureous waves of perdition. The 
dreadfulness of that torment, eye hath not seen, nor 
ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of 
man. Memory is imperfect now, and can only goad 
for one sin out of a thousand. But memory will be 
perfect in that world of woe, and will make every sin 
pass in review before the lost soul, as the great Eng- 
lish dramatist feigns that the ghosts of his murdered 
victims were marshalled before the fiendish Richard 
on Bosworth Field. 

There is a peculiar significance in the employment 
of light, as the symbol of knowledge. Light proceeds 
from the sun. So all knowledge, all truth, must come 
from "God manifest in the flesh," Jesus Christ, the 
Sun of Righteousness. Before our world was irradi- 
ated by his beams, how dark, confused, and chaotic 
was even the wisdom of the heathen philosophers. 
The learned Athenians mocked, when Paul talked 
about the resurrection of the dead. The doctrine of 
the immortality of the soul, of a future state of 
rewards and punishments, of one self-existent, eternal, 
invisible God, was rejected by the greatest poets, 
statesmen, legislators, and sages of antiquity. Their 
religion consisted in the worship of brutes, and of 
beings who were but the personifications of every 
species of wickedness. The wise Egyptians and the 
refined Assyrians worshipped the bull. The Jupiter 
and Juno, Mars and Venus, &c, of Rome and Greece, 
in the most cultivated period of their history, were 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. Ill 

monsters of depravity. Mount Olympus, the resi- 
dence of the gods, was the scene of anger, strife, 
jealousy, intrigue, and licentiousness. The purest of 
the heathen philosophers had no conception of a 
heaven of holiness. Jesus Christ brought life and 
immortality to light. His gospel alone contains a 
pure system of morality. It alone gives just and 
exalted views of the "King, immortal, invisible, the 
only wise God." And here we may remark, that the 
sages of antiquity erred in regard to the nature of 
light itself. Their most eminent mathematicians 
regarded it as an emanation from the eye itself, and 
not from the great luminary of day. Their theory is 
exactly parallel with that of the infidel perfectionists 
of our day, who contend that weak, sinful man has 
power in himself, without aid from above, to gain all 
wisdom, all knowledge, all holiness. Is not this view 
condemned by the very figure employed in the Scrip- 
tures to convey the idea of knowledge and virtue? 
As light must come from the source of light, so must 
all wisdom descend from above. The attainments of 
mankind, without the aid of the Bible, bear the same 
relation to true knowledge, that the light of the feeble 
lamp made by human hands bears to the full blaze of 
the meridian sun, set up in the heavens by God him- 
self. 

" If thine eye be single," &c. The word rendered 
ni>i<jle y conveys the idea of that which is simple, not 
complex, not distorted, not looking in two directions. 
It may probably be best explained by reference to the 



112 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

properties of luminous matter. Light is rectilinear, its 
line of direction is straight. If the eye then look 
directly forward, a true image will be painted on the 
retina, and the man will see clearly the object gazed 
at. But if the eye be rolling from earth to heaven, 
trying to take in the glories of both, a false, distorted 
image will be pictured, and nothing will be seen dis- 
tinctly. This explains the connection between these 
two verses and the preceding. The Pharisees gave 
alms, fasted, and prayed, to glorify God and win the 
favour of man. They had the rolling eye, and every- 
thing appeared distorted and in unnatural proportions. 
They had light enough, abundance of religious know- 
ledge, but the eye itself was unsound, and "the whole 
body was full of darkness." In truth, when the eye is 
unsound, an excess of light but increases the indis- 
tinctness of vision. The diseased organ cannot en- 
dure the glare. "Not many wise are called," said 
the Apostle Paul. What are known as diffraction 
bands in optics, present luminous spots for a certain 
amount of light, but if that amount be increased, all 
is darkness. Just so it is in spiritual matters. An 
increase of knowledge, whether literary, scientific, or 
religious, that is not received into a sound and healthy 
heart, will but add to the darkness and folly of the 
blinded sinner. " The wisdom of this world is fool- 
ishness with God." "The natural man receiveth 
not the things which are of the Spirit of God." 

The unbelief of the wise and learned often puzzles 
weak believers. They forget the teachings of our 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 113 

Saviour. They forget that soundness of eye, as well 
as sufficiency of light, are necessary to clearness of 
vision. They forget that the poor Pharisee missed 
seeing the glories of heaven, because he attempted to 
gaze, at the same time, at the loveliness of earth. 

DOUBLE SERVICE. 

"No man can serve two masters: for either he will 
hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold 
to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve 
God and Mammon." (Verse 24.) 

This verse contains the third reason against in- 
dulging in worldly-mindedness. The first, founded on 
the insecurity of all worldly possessions, is contained 
in the three verses beginning at the 19th and ending 
with the 21st. The uncertain, perishable nature of 
everything earthly, is there most strikingly set forth. 
The folly of setting our hearts upon such transitory 
things, is thus most clearly shown: 

" All, all on earth is shadow, all beyond 
Is substance, the reverse is Folly's creed. 
How solid all, where change shall be no more. 
The spider's most attenuated thread 
Is cord, is cable, to man's tender tie 
On earthly bliss: it breaks at every breeze," 

In the 22d and 23d verses, we have the second 
reason — covetousness perverts the conscience. It 
"puts darkness for light and light for darkness." It 
quenches the light that God has given, and "kindles 
a fire of its own, that men may encompass themselves 
11 



114 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

about with sparks, and walk in the light of their fire 
and of the sparks that they have kindled." The 
forum, the streets, and the palaces of Rome were 
lighted up by the torches and flambeaux of the mid- 
night procession to celebrate the impure rites of 
Cybele. And just as the light was prostituted to an 
unholy purpose, so is the lofty aspiration after God 
and holiness perveited by covetousness into the mere 
sordid desire for the perishing things of this world. 

The third reason is given in this 24th verse, and 
depends upon the incompatibility of the services of 
God and Mammon. The word mammon was used in 
the Syrian and Punic languages to signify riches and 
worldly gain of whatever kind. {Clarke.) We under- 
stand by it in this place, Satan tempting with the 
proffer of worldly wealth and worldly distinction. On 
three distinct occasions, our Saviour called Satan 
"the Prince of this world." John xii. 81; xiv. 30; 
xvi. 11. St. Paul calls him " the Prince of the power 
of the air." Ephes. ii. 2. And we think that the re- 
markable language of the Apostle, in 2 Cor. iv. 4, ex- 
plains fully the meaning of Mammon. "In whom 
the God of this world has blinded the minds of them 
which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gos- 
pel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine 
unto them." Here the same qualities are attributed 
to Satan that are ascribed to Mammon, in the 23d and 
24th verses under consideration. He is the god of 
this world, he blinds the mind, he perverts the con- 
science, and he is in active hostility with the Son of 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 115 

God; so that no man can serve both. Assuming then 
that Mammon is but another name for Satan in his 
capacity of tempter, the meaning of the 24th verse is 
obvious. A subject cannot -serve two sovereigns, 
whose wishes, commands, and interests are entirely 
opposite. A servant cannot love two masters, whose 
characters, disposition, tones of thought, and habits 
of life are irreconcilably different. It is impossible 
for a soldier to range himself, at the same time, under 
the banner of two hostile princes, waging a deadly 
war with each other. It is impossible to yield obedi- 
ence to conflicting orders. No man can obey both 
God and Mammon. God says, " My son, give me thy 
heart." The prince of the power of the air, "shows 
us all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of 
them," and says to each one of us, "all these things 
will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship 
me." God says, "the soul that sinneth, it shall die." 
Satan says, "take your fill of worldly pleasure, ye 
shall not surely die." God says, "all flesh is grass, 
and all the godliness thereof is as the flower of the 
field. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; put 
not your trust in these vanishing things. Trust in 
the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is ever- 
lasting strength." Mammon says, "Put your trust 
in this substantial world, 'for since the fathers fell 
asleep, all things continue as they were from the be- 
ginning of the creation."' God says, "I dwell in the 
high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite 
and humble spirit." Satan says, " Contrition is folly, 



116 CONSIDERATION OP THE 

humility is meanness. Fear not, 'thou dwellest in 
the clefts of the rocks, thou holdest the height of the 
hill, thou makest thy nest as high as the eagle; thou 
shalt never be brought down from thence.'" God 
says, "Ye are all as an unclean thing, and all your 
righteousnesses are as filthy rags. Do not place your 
hopes of salvation in your good deeds. Trust only 
in the name of the Lord Jesus. ' For there is none 
other name under heaven given among men, whereby 
ye must be saved.' " Satan reminds you of your fast- 
ing three times a week, of your giving tithes of all you 
possess, of your freedom from extortion, injustice, 
adultery, &c, and tells you "to look to the altars, 
the works of your hands, and have respect to that 
which your fingers have made." God calls "covet- 
ousness, idolatry," and pronounces "the love of mo- 
ney the root of all evil." Satan teaches that worldly 
wealth is the chief good — the noblest object of human 
desire. God says, " It is better to trust in the Lord 
than to put confidence in man." Satan teaches, "to 
love the praise of man more than the praise of God." 
God enjoins forgiveness of injuries — "Be ye kind to 
one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, 
even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you." 
Satan prompts to "bitterness, and wrath, and anger, 
and clamour, and evil speaking with all malice." 

It is impossible to obey such conflicting commands. 
Obedience must be rendered either to God or Mam- 
mon; but the same individual cannot obey both. 
Neither can he love both. Two masters, of like cha- 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 117 

racters and of congenial dispositions, might be loved 
by the same servant. But the characters of God and 
Satan are as different as their respective abodes. 
"God is love." All his acts prove him to be long- 
suffering, merciful, and full of tender compassion. 
Satan is full of malice, hatred, cruelty, and murder. 
"He was a murderer from the beginning." God 
made man in his own image, pure, holy, and undefined, 
and surrounded him with every object of delight. 
Satan defaced the image of God, banished him from 
Paradise, and sent him forth into a world of "thorns 
and thistles," cares and anxieties, sin and sorrow, 
disease and death. But notwithstanding the rebellion 
of man, " God" still " so loved the world that he gave 
his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in 
him should not perish, but have everlasting life." 
Satan visits the world too, but it is on no mission of 
mercy. He comes not as a Saviour, but a tempter. 

"Assaying by his devilish art to reach 
The organs of our fancy, and with them forge 
Illusions as he list, phantasms and dreams; 

# At least distempered, discontented thoughts, 
Vain hopes, vain aims, inordinate desires, 
Blown up with high conceits, engendering pride." 

God sends his "Spirit of truth, to guide into all 
truth." Satan sends his emissaries with "signs and 
lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unright- 
eousness." Truth is an essential attribute of God. 
Titus i. 2. The throne of Satan is built on treachery 
and falsehood. "When he speaketh a lie, he speak- 
11* 



118 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

eth of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it." 
The tenderness of God for his people exceeds the love 
of the mother for her unweaned babe. " Can a woman 
forget her sucking child, that she should not have 
compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may 
forget, yet will I not forget thee." Isa. xlix. 15. 
Satan, too, forgets not, but he remembers only to de- 
stroy. "Your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, 
walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." 
1 Pet. v. 8. 

It is plain then, from this view of the opposite cha- 
racters of God and Satan, that love for both cannot 
exist at the same time, in any human heart. If God 
be loved for his holiness, goodness, and truth, Satan 
must be hated for his wickedness, malevolence, and 
falsehood. If the service of the one be pleasant, the 
yoke of the other must be insufferable. The poor Pha- 
risee, with his diseased eye, could not see this obvious 
truth. He sought to please God and win the world 
too. He sought to serve both God and Mammon. 
"How can ye believe," said our Saviour, "which re- 
ceive honour one of another, and seek not the honour 
that cometh from God only"? The Pharisee coveted 
both, but he "loved the praise of men more than the 
praise of God." He gave to God the outer worship of 
tithes, mint, and cummin, and to Mammon the inner 
worship of the heart. But "God abhors the sacrifice, 
where not the heart is found." The mistake of the 
Pharisee of the time of our Saviour, is the mistake of 
the worldly Laodicean disciple of to-day. He strives 






SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 119 

to obey opposite and conflicting commands. He tries 
to love God, and yet not give up the love of the world. 
He wishes to save his soul and hoard his wealth too. 
He wants God to be his friend, and yet he withholds 
his substance from his service. He hopes that the 
great and dreadful Jehovah will accept the offering of 
his lips, while Mammon has the devotion of his soul. 
Let him listen to the truth from the lips of God's own 
Son — " Ye cannot serve God and Mammon." 

NEEDLESS ANXIETY. 

" Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for 
your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink ; 
nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not 
the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 
Behold the fowls of the air : for they sow not, neither 
do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your Hea- 
venly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better 
than they ? Which of you by taking thought can add 
one cubit to his stature? And why take ye thought 
for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they 
grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I 
Bay unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was 
not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so 
clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to- 
morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more 
clothe you, ye of little faith? Therefore take no 
thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, what shall we 
drink? or, wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For 
after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your 



120 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

Heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all 
these things." (Verses 25-32.) 

We think that these verses do not contain addi- 
tional reasons against the pursuit of worldly honour 
and worldly wealth — that which is called "treasure" 
in the 24th verse. The usually received opinion 
seems to us erroneous. It is not covetousness — greed 
for fame and riches — that our Saviour rebukes in 
the eight verses quoted above. It is needless anxiety 
about the necessaries of life, (food and raiment,) that 
he now condemns. He had shown, 1st. The folly of 
setting the heart on worldly objects, because of the 
insecurity of their possession; 2d. The sin of it, 
because the conscience was thereby defiled; and 
3d. The danger of it, because the devotee of the world 
would cease to be a servant of God, and become the 
slave of Satan. He now passes to the consideration 
of what seems to be a lawful concern for those things 
which support existence. We are prone to think that 
it cannot be wrong to be concerned about providing 
the necessaries of life for ourselves and our families. 
Many, who are indifferent about the acquisition of 
wealth, are intensely solicitous about what they call a 
good support for their households. This solicitude 
our Saviour condemns, but not in the strong language 
of reprobation which is bestowed on the service of 
Mammon. Concern about food and raiment must be 
sinful, when it assumes the character "of a disquiet- 
ing, tormenting care, which hurries the mind hither 
and thither, and hangs it in suspense ; which disturbs 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 121 

our joy in God, and is a damp upon our hope in him, 
which breaks the sleep, and hinders our enjoyment of 
ourselves, of our friends, and of what God has given 
us." Again, this concern will be sinful when it 
assumes the character of "a distrustful, unbelieving 
thought. God has promised to provide for those that 
are his, all things needful for life as well as godliness, 
the life that now is, food, and a covering; not dainties, 
but necessaries. He never said they shall be feasted, 
but 'verily, they shall be fed.' Now, an inordinate 
care for time to come, and fear of wanting those 
supplies, spring from a disbelief of these promises, 
and of the wisdom and goodness of Divine Providence; 
and that is the evil of it. As to present sustenance, 
we may and must use lawful means to get it, else we 
tempt God; we must be diligent in our callings, and 
prudent in proportioning our expenses to what we 
have, and we must pray for 'daily bread;' and if all 
other means fail, we may and must ask relief of those 
that are able to give it. He was none of the best of 
men, who said, 'To beg, I am ashamed,' (Luke 
xvi. 3,) as he was, who (verse 21) 'desired to be fed 
with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table.' 
But in regard to the future, we must 'cast our care 
upon God,' and 'take no thought,' for it looks like a 
distrust of God, who knows how to give what we want, 
when we know not how to get it." (Matthew Henry.) 
This extract shows clearly that men may sin, even 
in their care for the necessaries of life. Distracting 
anxiety about anything, must interfere, not only with 



122 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

religious comfort, but also with religious duty. It 
dishonours God, too, by the distrust of his goodness 
and providence. Those, who are conscious that they 
are unconcerned about riches and honour, are not apt 
to think that they may offend God by over-anxious- 
ness about the maintenance of their families. On the 
contrary, they rather think that they are to be com- 
mended for their solicitude, and their diligence in 
their business. They remember that the virtuous 
woman commended by Solomon, was distinguished 
for her industry, her thriftful management, and her 
wise forethought. They remember that diligence is 
always spoken of in the Scriptures with approbation, 
and that it is even enjoined as a duty. "He that 
gathereth in summer is a wise son." "The hand of 
the diligent maketh rich." "The hand of the diligent 
shall bear rule." "The thoughts of the diligent tend 
only to plenteousness." "Seest thou a man diligent 
in business, he shall stand before kings, he shall not 
stand before mean men." "Be thou diligent to know 
the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds." 
"Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving 
the Lord." They remember, too, that idleness and 
slothfulness are spoken of in the severest terms of 
censure. And from all this, they infer that no tax 
upon the bodily and mental powers can be too great 
to provide a comfortable subsistence for themselves 
and their families. This opinion is confirmed in 
many, by the view generally taken of the eight pre- 
ceding verses. They are commonly regarded as but 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 123 

the continuation of our Saviour's rebuke of an inor- 
dinate thirst for wealth and distinction. That this 
view is wrong, seems plain from the fact that distract- 
ing care about food and raiment, and not about wealth 
and fame, is that which is reproved. It is obvious, 
moreover, that bodily labour, even for the necessaries 
of life, may be carried to such an extreme, as to 
interfere with the offices of religion; such as family 
and secret prayer, visiting the sick, warning the im- 
penitent, strengthening the weak, &c, &c. So, too, 
mental care, about food and raiment, may estrange 
the thoughts from God. We understand,, then, our 
Saviour to pass, in the verses above, from a severe 
rebuke of covetousness, to a mild reproof of needless 
anxiety about a livelihood. He gives three reasons 
(verses 25, 26, 27,) against undue concern about food; 
three more (verses 28, 29, 30,) against undue concern 
about raiment; and then three more (verses 31, 32,) 
why we should not be troubled about either food or 
raiment. 

We will notice these in their order. Food is men- 
tioned first, because first in point of importance. 
Life may be, and has been maintained without cloth- 
ing, but it cannot exist without food. This is implied 
in the very language employed in the 25th verse. 
"Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or 
what ye shall drink ; nor yet for your body, what ye 
shall put on." Here the contrast between the life and 
the body shows that food is essential, while raiment is 
but an ornament and a comfort. 



124 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

The first argument against needless perplexity 
about food, is drawn from the superior dignity of life 
itself to the food that supports it. "Is not the life 
more than meat?" God has given the greater bless- 
ing, can you not trust him for the smaller? The 
greater boon was granted without your knowledge, 
without your care; why then bestow so much thought 
upon the smaller? The argument is of the same kind 
w r ith that of St. Paul, where he expresses entire confi- 
dence in the love and goodness of God in all the affairs 
of life, because of the inestimable gift of his own Son, 
"He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him 
up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely 
give us all things?" Rom. viii. 32. Life is the 
breath of God. "The Lord God breathed into his 
nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living 
soul." Food is of the earth. Shall God give us a 
part of his own existence, and refuse us the vile, 
perishing things of earth? Would a prince give a 
jewel of priceless value to a favourite, and refuse the 
poor casket to keep it in. God has given us the 
nobler gift, let us trust him for the meaner. When 
we have bestowed all proper labour on our business, 
let us leave the issue with God, and disturb ourselves 
with no carking cares about the results of our efforts. 

The second argument, against needless anxiety 
about food and raiment, is derived from God's care of 
the fowls of the air. "They sow not, neither do they 
reap, nor gather into barns; yet your Heavenly Fa- 
ther feedeth them. Are ye not much better than 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 125 

they?" (Verse 26th.) God cares for all his creatures, 
and makes provision for them all. "I know all the 
fowls of the mountains." Ps. 1. 11. Not a sparrow 
can fall to the ground without his knowledge. Matt. 
x. 29. He "provideth for the raven his food, when 
his young ones cry unto God." Job xxxviii. 41. "He 
giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens 
which cry." Ps. cxlvii. 9. When God had resolved 
to destroy the world because of its wickedness, he did 
not forget the fowls of the air, but directed Noah to 
take them in by sevens of every kind. God has 
"made us wiser than the fowls of heaven." Job 
xxxv. 11. He has given us authority and dominion 
over them. Ps. viii. 8. If we find then that ample 
provision is made for the inferior creature, may not 
the nobler and more highly favoured, trust implicitly 
in the providence of God? There is a peculiar 
beauty in the illustration of our Saviour. The birds 
of the air make no provision for the future. They 
literally "take no thought for the morrow." The ant 
and the bee and many of the beasts of the field have 
a wise forecast, and lay up stores for winter. The 
squirrel does not forget, in the midst of his frisking 
and chattering on a bright summer day, to hoard 
away nuts for winter use. But the fowls of heaven, 
when their present wants are supplied, " sing among 
the branches," without any care, without any con- 
cern, without any thought, as to where the next sup- 
ply is to come from. God is their provider, they have 
no reason to trouble themselves. He scatters food 
12 



126 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

for them everywhere. The most careful reaper will 
leave much in the field for these "gleaners of the 
Lord." The most thrifty husbandman cannot store 
away his harvest, without leaving a portion to them. 
They come to the churl, as well as to the liberal man, 
for a part of his produce, and they get it. If then the 
most careless and improvident of all God's creatures 
be thus well supplied, shall the disciple of Christ per- 
plex himself, saying, "What shall I eat? or, what 
shall I drink?" Let him labour faithfully, do his 
duty fully, and then trust for his food to Him who has 
charge of his soul. He will then be able to say with 
Paul, "I know whom I have believed, and am per- 
suaded that he is able to keep that which I have com- 
mitted unto him against that day;" or, with David, 
" I have been young and now am old, yet I have 
never seen the righteous forsaken, or his seed begging 
bread." 

The third argument against distressing concern 
about food is drawn from our impotence and helpless- 
ness. "Which of you by taking thought can add 
one cubit to his stature." (Verse 27.) 

The word rendered "stature" might have been 
rendered "age." It is so translated in several places. 
The parents of the blind man, when questioned by 
the Jews as to how he received his sight, replied, "he 
is of age, (elikian,) ask him ; he shall speak for him- 
self." John ix. 21. "Through faith also Sarah her- 
self received strength to conceive seed, and was 
delivered of a child when she was past age, (elikian,) 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 127 

because she judged him faithful who had promised." 
Heb. xi. 11. The meaning then in this place is, who, 
by his care and anxiety in providing food, can add 
one cubit to his age? That is, who can lengthen his 
days by all the precautions that he may take to sup- 
ply himself with the necessaries of life? "Is there 
not an appointed time for man upon earth?" 

It has not been uncommon for the sacred writers, 
and for poets in ancient and modern times, to apply 
linear measure to time. Thus David: "Lord, make 
me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, 
what it is ; that I may know how frail I am. Behold, 
thou hast made my days as an handbreadth, and my 
age {elikia in the Septuagint) is as nothing before 
thee." Ps. xxxix. 4, 5. Watts has beautifully ver- 
sified one of the preceding thoughts: 

"A span is all that we can boast, 
An inch or two of time. 

We understand then the drift of our Saviour's argu- 
ment to be this: "Your great anxiety about food is 
in order to prolong your life. But none of you can 
add a single moment to the length of his existence. 
'If ye then be not able to do that which is least, why 
take ye thought for the rest?' Luke xii. 26. If ye 
be not able to control a single instant, why take 
thought for the whole of life?" Our inability to 
lengthen the measure of our days, by even one second, 
should teach us the folly of troubling ourselves about 
what we shall eat and what we shall drink. 

The first argument against useless anxiety about 



128 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

raiment, is derived from God's care of the lilies of the 
field. "Consider the lilies of the field, how they 
grow ; they toil not, neither do they spin : and yet I 
say unto you, That even Solomon, in all his glory, 
was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if 
God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, 
and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not 
much more clothe you, ye of little faith?" (Verses 
28, 29, 30.) Our Saviour had shown the care bestowed 
by God upon his living, breathing, animate creatures; 
he now refers to his providence for the inanimate 
things that sprang into existence by the word of his 
power. There is thus a climax in his reasoning. The 
providence of God is more strikingly exhibited in 
his care for the senseless, unfeeling grass of the field, 
than in his providing for the singing, soaring birds of 
the air. His care for the latter might have been 
inferred from his care for the former. If he adorn 
and beautify the grass of the field, which is trodden 
down and eaten by the brute creation, shall he not 
much more care for the fowls of heaven, that warble 
hymns of praise to him all the day long? Then how 
much greater care will he give to man, who is nobler 
even than the blithesome caroling birds? We might 
have felt satisfied that God would not neglect us, 
inasmuch as he feeds the inferior living creatures; 
but all doubt must be banished, when we behold the 
attention bestowed on the soulless herbage at our 
feet. Mungo Park, the great African traveller, was 
once robbed and beaten, and left to perish in the 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 129 

wilderness. When he was just ready to resign him- 
self to death, God suggested to him the very train of 
thought employed by our Saviour. He says: "At 
this moment, painful as my reflections were, the 
extraordinary beauty of a small moss caught my eye; 
and, though the whole plant was not larger than the 
top of my finger, I could not contemplate the delicate 
conformation of its roots, leaves, and fruit without 
admiration. 'Can that Being,' thought I, 'who 
planted, watered, and brought to perfection, in this 
obscure part of the world, a thing which appears of 
so small importance, look with unconcern on the 
sufferings of creatures formed after his own image? 
Surely not.' Reflections like these would not allow 
me to despair. I started up. and disregarding both 
hunger and fatigue, travelled forward, assured that 
relief was at hand, and I was not disappointed." We 
remember a similar exercise of faith (called forth in 
the same manner) by a traveller, lost on a prairie in 
Western Texas. 

The reason of our Saviour's selection of this par- 
ticular plant, the lily, for his illustration, was probably 
because it adorned the sides of the mountain on which 
he stood. All know that it was the common practice 
with our Saviour, to draw his illustrations from objects 
which presented themselves to the view of his hearers. 
Thus at Jacob's well, he talked to the woman of 
Samaria about the living water, which he who drank 
should thirst no more. And when he saw the multi- 
tudes from the city of Sychar corning to him across 
12* 



130 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

the fields, he said to his disciples: "Say not ye, there 
are yet four months and then cometh harvest? behold, 
I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the 
fields; for they are white already to harvest." And 
when he taught by the seaside, he said: "The king- 
dom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the 
sea, and gathered of every kind. Which, when it was 
full, they drew to shore, and set down, and gathered 
the good into vessels, but cast the bad away." And 
in his last discourse, before his crucifixion, he said, 
as he passed among the clustering vines in the rich 
valley of the Cedron — "I am the true vine, and my 
Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that 
beareth not fruit he taketh away ; and every branch 
that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring 
forth more fruit." 

The beauty, simplicity, and power of our Saviour's 
teaching are due in great measure, to his constant 
practice of illustrating great moral truths by natural 
objects familiar to all. No religious teacher ever 
succeeded so well in divesting his instruction of a cold, 
dead, metaphysical abstraction, and in presenting it 
as a living, breathing reality, to the heart and the 
understanding. Ministers of the gospel would do 
well to imitate their Master in this, as well as in other 
respects. If they would study books less and nature 
more, they would not so often "speak in an unknown 
tongue" to the uneducated of their congregations. 
"We think that it was Professor Wilson, of Edinburg, 
who said, that whenever he wished to make a great 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 131 

truth intelligible to the commonest comprehension, 
he endeavoured to recall the scenery around the 
country home of his childhood, so that he could 
employ a figure that would be felt and understood by 
all. Dead disquisitions on theology are too often 
substituted for the living, practical instruction, which 
our Saviour imparted. Our clergy are too much in 
their studies, and too little in the fields and in the 
forests. Nature is observed too little. "And if we 
do not observe nature, we incur disgrace as well as 
suffer loss — we are ungrateful to our Maker, and 
unworthy of ourselves. Wherefore were the organs 
and faculties of observation given us, if we do not 
use them. The senses (though, as we have them 
without cost, or study, or effort on our part, and 
so are apt to undervalue them,) are in reality choice 
gifts; and the productions of nature are so admi- 
rably fitted for the gratification of these senses, that 
it is altogether impossible for us not to perceive 
that the one must have been made for the other. 
Why does the rose give forth its odour, and the scent 
of the lavender and the mignonette steal viewless upon 
the still air around us, and the blooming bean, and 
the new mown hay, outscent all the preparations of 
the apothecary, if it be not to wile us to the garden 
and to the field, in order that we may breathe health, 
and at the same time cull pleasure and instruction 
there. Wherefore sings the breeze in the forest, 
why whispers the zephyr among the reeds, and how 
comes it that the caves and hollows of the barren 



132 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

mountains give out their tunes, as if the earth, were a 
musical instrument of innumerable strings, if it be not 
to tempt us forth in order to learn how ever-fair, 
ever-new, and ever-informing, that great instructress 
is, who speaks to all the senses at one and the same 
instant." (Mudie on Nature, page 67.) 

It is remarkable, that when God sought to recall 
Job from his murmuring and rebellion, it was done 
by pointing his attention to the wonders of creation. 
" Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the 
furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after thee? 
Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or 
wings and feathers unto the ostrich? Hast thou 
given the horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck 
with thunder? Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom, 
and stretch her wings toward the south? Doth the 
eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest 
on high ? Canst thou draw out leviathan with a hook? 
or his tongue with a cord, which thou lettest down? 
He esteemeth iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood. 
The arrow cannot make him flee; sling-stones are 
turned with him into stubble. Upon earth there is 
not his like, who is made without fear." 

And what was. the effect upon Job of this contem- 
plation of the handiwork of God? "Then Job an- 
swered the Lord and said, I know that thou canst do 
everything, and that no thought can be withholden 
from thee Wherefore I abhor myself, and re- 
pent in dust and ashes." 

We observe here, that it was the power, grandeur, 



i 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 133 

and majesty of God, as exhibited in his works, that 
convinced Job of his own folly and wickedness, in 
complaining of the dealings of so awful and glorious 
a Being. When, too, he reflected upon the wisdom, 
as well as power manifested in the structure of all 
of God's creatures, and contrasted that wisdom with 
his own ignorance, he felt that in complaining at 
God's providence he was but "darkening counsel by 
words without knowledge." 

Religious teachers would do well to imitate the ex- 
ample of God the Father and God the Son, in illus- 
trating moral truths by reference to the wonders of 
creation. It requires but little observation of nature 

" To find tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, 
Sermons in stones, and good in everything." 

It may be well here, however, to notice the precise 
language employed by our Saviour. Why did he 
select the lily rather than any other flower of the 
field? Was it merely because it grew in beauty at 
his feet ? This was doubtless the chief reason. Tra- 
vellers tell us that the Eastern lily still abounds in 
Palestine. But there may have been an additional 
reason for the selection of this particular flower. The 
loveliness, fragrance, and lowliness of the Eastern 
lily made it a fit emblem of the Saviour himself. "I 
am," says he, "the rose of Sharon and the lily of the 
valleys." And he compares his Church to the lily 
among thorns. "As the lily among thorns, so is my 
love among the daughters." And God promises that 



134 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

his people shall grow as the lily in loveliness of cha- 
racter. " I will be as the dew unto Israel, he shall 
grow as the lily." Hosea xiv. 5. Now if we recollect 
that the Sermon on the Mount was addressed prima- 
rily to disciples, (Matt. v. 2,) we will have no difficulty 
in understanding why our Saviour made choice of the 
lily for his illustration of God's providence. He calls 
their attention to the care of their Heavenly Father 
for the lily, their emblem and representative. Will 
God care for the emblem and neglect the thing signi- 
fied? Will he honour the type and disregard the an- 
titype? Will he adorn and beautify the semblance 
and neglect the substance ? 

" Will God, think you, the just and great, 
His meaner creatures bless, 
And yet deny to man's estate 
The boon of happiness?" 

No, the loveliness of the symbol but prefigures the 
immortal bloom of the reality. If the lowly emblem 
be not forgotten, even when hidden among the thorns 
in the valley, but is arrayed in so gorgeous a drapery 
that Solomon's royal robes would be mean in the com- 
parison, surely the child of God may trust him for 
suitable raiment in this world, and for glorious adorn- 
ment in the life beyond the grave. 

There is a peculiar significance in the fact that 
Christ likens himself to the rose and the lily, but com- 
pares his disciples to the lily alone. Song of Solo- 
mon ii. 1, 2. The lily is a bulbous plant. In the 
winter it does not lift its head above the ground, like 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 135 

the stately rose, but lies buried in the earth, and it 
may be, covered over with ice and snow. But when 
it feels the genial influence of the sun and the soft 
breath of spring, it bursts forth from its inglorious 
sepulture, and draws its rich colouring and variegated 
hues from the fountain of light and heat. And thus it 
is a fit emblem of one, whom the Father has given to the 
Son. He may be buried in worldly cares and worldly 
desires — he may be frozen under a cold, formal reli- 
gion — but when the Sun of Righteousness has once 
shined into his soul, the cold and frost will disappear; 
and when the breath of God has blown upon the dry 
bones of his buried carcass, the man will start up in 
full, immortal vigour, and array himself in the glori- 
ous and refulgent robes of Immanuel's perfect right- 
eousness. 

The 32d verse contains three reasons against undue 
concern in regard to both food and raiment. 1st. Such 
concern is heathenish: "For after all these things do 
the Gentiles seek." 2d. We are not to trouble our- 
selves about these things, because we have God, and 
not Jupiter — not a heathenish deity, for our Father. 
"For your Heavenly Father." 3d. Because our 
situation and wants are perfectly known to this Father. 
" He knoweth that ye have need of all these things." 

We propose to notice briefly these three reasons. 

1st. Excessive concern about food and raiment is 
heathenish. The heathen had no correct ideas about 
the nature of God, and of course had none about his 
providential care over his creatures. The belief in a 



136 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

special providence was not entertained in any of their 
systems of philosophy. Two opinions prevailed with 
their sages. The first, that the gods were entirely 
indifferent to the affairs of men. The second, that 
the gods themselves were subordinate to the decrees 
of inexorable fate or fortune. The celebrated saying 
of Callisthenes is well known, 

" Fortune, and not wisdom, rules the life of man." 

Cicero taught that " fate or fortune governs every- 
thing." (See Tusculan Disputations.) The Roman 
empire was divided into two great schools — the Epi- 
curean and Academic. The former taught that " if 
there were gods, they took no notice of human 
affairs ;" the latter, that "it could not be ascertained 
whether there were gods or not ; whether the soul was 
mortal or immortal ; virtue preferable to vice," &c. 
{Mcllvaines Evidences.) The Greeks generally be- 
lieved that the gods themselves were governed by fate. 
Of this belief Dr. Cudworth says, " There is another 
wild and extravagant conceit, which some of the Pa- 
gans had, who, though they verbally acknowledged a 
Deity, yet supposed Fate superior to it, and not only 
to all their petty gods, but also to Jupiter himself. 
To which purpose is the saying of the Greek poet, 
Latinized by Cicero, 'It is impossible for God himself 
to avoid the destined Fate. God himself is the servant 
of necessity.' According to which conceit, Jupiter, 
in Homer, laments his condition, in that the Fates 
have determined, that his beloved Sarpedon shall be 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 137 

slain by the son of Menetius, and that he is not able to 
withstand the decree. Though all these passages may 
not imply, perhaps much more than what the stoical 
hyothesis itself imported; for that did also, in some 
sense, make God himself the servant to the necessity 
of the matter, and to his own decrees, in that he could 
not have made the smallest thing in the world other- 
wise than it is now, much less was he able to alter it; 
according to that saying of Seneca, 'One and the 
same chain of necessity ties God and men. The same 
irrevocable and unalterable course carries on divine 
and human things. The very Maker and Governor of 
all things, that decreed the Fates, follows them. He 
did but once command, but he always obeys.' " (Cud- 
worth's Intellectual System of the Universe, vol. i. 
page 54.) 

It was of course impossible for the heathen, with 
their low views of the power of God, to trust him for 
their food and raiment. It was equally impossible 
for them, in their uncertainty about a future state, to 
be indifferent to the necessaries and comforts of the 
present life. The passing moment was everything to 
them. How could they be more concerned about 
their souls, whose very existence they doubted, than 
about their real, tangible, sensitive bodies? How 
could they commit the care of these bodies to deities 
whom they thought indifferent about them, or else 
bound like themselves in the chains of inflexible 
destiny ? Anxiety about his bodily wants was 
13 * 



138 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

natural to the heathen, but is sinful with the Chris- 
tian, who has God for his Father and Provider. 

The second argument, against undue concern about 
food and raiment — the necessaries of life, is drawn 
from this fact, of our having God for our Father. 
That child would be very foolish, who would perplex 
and distress himself about his food and clothing, 
although he knew that his kind father had abundant 
supplies at home, which he could get for the simple 
asking for them. The hungry prodigal turned his 
face homeward, when he remembered that in his fa- 
ther's house there was "bread enough and to spare." 
Luke xv. With how much more alacrity would he 
have hastened to the home of his childhood, had he 
known that his father was perfectly apprized of his 
hunger and suffering, and yearned to relieve his dis- 
tress. And so we have the third argument as a climax 
to the whole. "Your Heavenly Father knoweth that 
ye have need of all these things." It would be 
enough to relieve the anxiety of any child, to know 
that he had a kind father near at hand, ready to 
supply everything asked for. But how much less 
anxiety ought that child to feel, if he knew that his 
tender parent never lost sight of him, and kept him- 
self always acquainted with his wants, that he might 
anticipate them. Surely, it would be the height of 
folly, in such a child, to be troubled about his meat 
and his apparel. But the over-anxious Christian is 
just as foolish as the discontented child. "The Lord 
is good to all; and his tender mercies are^ver all his 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 139 

works." How much more shall they be over his 
chosen ones, washed and purified in the blood of his 
own Son. "He knoweth their down-sitting and their 
uprising; he understandeth their thoughts afar off. 
He compasseth their path, and their lying down, and is 
acquainted with all their ways." They have no wants 
which are not known to him. True, he may permit 
them to be naked and hungry, but it will never be 
from ignorance of their need; still less will it be 
from indifference to their suffering. He may have 
some wise purpose of discipline to accomplish thereby, 
or he may intend to exhibit them as models of patient 
endurance to a fretful and discontented world. Or, 
he may mean to make the more glorious their transi- 
tion from a world of woe to a heaven of endless bliss. 
What a change for the poor beggar at the rich man's 
gate, from the company of dogs to Abraham's bosom; 
from squalid rags and a putrid carcass, to heavenly 
robes and a glorified body. Let the child of God 
then give himself no unnecessary concern, neither for 
wealth, nor for the necessaries of life. A kind and 
wise Father knows all his wants; and will supply or 
deny them, as seemeth to him best for the good of the 
child, and for the glory of his own great and holy 
name. 

NEEDFUL ANXIETY. 

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his 
righteousness; and all these things shall be added 
unto you." (Verse 33.) 

This verse teaches us what we are to be anxious 



140 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

for — -what we may be lawfully concerned about. 
Two things may properly call forth and employ our 
thoughts and energies. We can never have too 
much solicitude about the kingdom of God and his 
righteousness — about the spread of the gospel of 
the Son of God, and our own personal holiness. We 
can never perplex ourselves too much to promote the 
glory of God, and to "work out our own salvation." 
Here is something worthy of our highest powers and 
most ardent zeal. Here is a work that, in its two- 
fold character, can engage man alone, of all the 
creatures in the great universe of God. Angels 
"faint not, neither are they weary" in their ceaseless 
efforts to glorify their blessed Creator. But angels 
are sinless beings — they have no heaven to win. They 
have not to seek the righteousness of a Surety and 
Substitute. God has made them perfectly holy and 
righteous in themselves, and they have not "left their 
first estate." 

The transition from the eight preceding verses to 
the 33d verse, is quite natural. In the former, our 
Saviour teaches that there are two things, viz. food 
and raiment, not to be sought for with too much 
ardour. In the latter, he teaches that there are two 
things, viz. the glory of God, and personal holiness, 
which are to be striven for, with all eagerness and 
earnestness. And if we go still further back, these 
two lawful objects of the Christian's pursuit stand 
out in still broader contrast with the two things 
craved by the covetous, viz. wealth and fame. And 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 141 

all the arguments employed by our Saviour against 
covetousness, can be urged as reasons for concern 
about God's glory, and the soul's salvation. First, 
there can be no insecurity. No effort was ever lost, 
which was made in accordance with the teaching of 
God's word, to advance the Redeemer's kingdom, and 
to promote the sanctification of the man's own charac- 
ter. Whatever else may be uncertain, there is security 
here. However useless other exertions maybe, these 
rest for their success upon the promise of a faithful 
and unchanging God. Second, there can be no per- 
version of conscience in the pursuit of these two grand 
objects. On the contrary, just in proportion as God 
is honoured and salvation sought for, will the under- 
standing become enlightened, and the voice of con- 
science give true and faithful warning. Third, the 
man engaged in seeking first the kingdom of God and 
his righteousness, cannot enter into the service of 
Mammon. His noble employment will give him a 
distaste for the low, sordid desires and pursuits of the 
worldly. Moses, with his face all shining from his 
interview with Jehovah, could not fall down with his 
idolatrous brethren, before the image of the golden 
calf. Daniel but lightly esteemed the proffered chain 
of gold from the king of Babylon, because he looked 
forward to a crown of righteousness from the King of 
kings and Lord of lords. 

Matthew Henry has shown that there are two 
reasons given for making the glory of God and our 
own personal salvation the chief objects of desire. 
13* 



142 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

1st. These things are more worthy the attention of 
rational, immortal creatures, than provision for the 
•wants of our poor perishing bodies. It will make but 
little difference, a little while hence, whether we were 
ill-fed in this life, and were clothed in rags, or were 
"clothed in fine linen and fared sumptuously every 
day;" whether we had hosts of friends, and were 
highly esteemed, or were deserted by all and left 
"alone like a sparrow upon the house-top." Elijah 
was probably never so happy as when he had but the 
company of the ravens by the brook Cherith. But it 
matters but little whether "the few and evil days of 
the years of our pilgrimage" be happy or miserable. 
This is but of small moment in comparison with the 
condition of the soul, which must "dwell in everlast- 
ing burnings," or enjoy full, supreme delight for ever 
and for ever. Of still less moment is it, in compari- 
son with the glory of the eternal, self-existent God. 
2d. "We have a surer and easier, a better and more 
compendious way to obtain the necessaries of this life, 
than by caring and fretting for them; and that is by 
seeking first the kingdom of God, and making religion 
our chief business." (Matthew Henry.) He has pro- 
mised that all needed blessings shall be added to those 
who concern themselves more for his glory than for 
their own bodily wants. "And God said to Solomon, 
Because this was in thy heart, and thou hast not 
asked riches, wealth, or honour, nor the life of thine 
enemies, neither yet hast asked long life; but hast 
asked wisdom and knowledge for thyself, that thou 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 143 

mayest judge my people, over whom I have made 
thee king; wisdom and knowledge is granted unto 
thee; and I will give thee riches, and wealth, and 
honour, such as none of the kings have had that have 
been before thee, neither shall there any after thee 
have the like." 2 Chron. i. 11, 12. Solomon sought 
to honour God, first of all, because he desired to rule 
aright God's people; and personal blessings were 
therefore superadded. "Honour the Lord with thy 
substance, and with the first-fruits of all thine in- 
crease: so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and 
thy presses shall burst out with new wine." " Trust 
in the Lord, and do good : so shalt thou dwell in the 
land, and verily thou shalt be fed." "The Lord will 
give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold 
from them that walk uprightly." "As the mountains 
are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round 
about his people from henceforth even for ever." 
"Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord; that 
walketh in his ways." " For thou shalt eat the labour 
of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be 
well with thee." "The young lions do lack and 
suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not 
want any good thing." "Godliness is profitable unto 
all things, having promise of the life that now is, and 
of that which is to come." The richness and fulness 
of these promises leave no room to doubt that God 
will attend to the temporal wants of those who are 
more concerned for his kingdom than for their own 
comforts and conveniences. The experience of every 



144 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

one must confirm the truth of these precious promises. 
It may be, indeed, that the child of God does occasion- 
ally perish from want. But doubtless his eternal 
happiness will be promoted by this light affliction, 
which is but for a moment. Has not a God of truth 
said, "all things work together for good to them that 
love God"? 

GENERAL DIRECTION. 

Having taught his disciples what two things they 
were to be concerned about, viz. God's glory and 
personal holiness, in opposition to the two things 
sought for by the covetous, viz. wealth and fame, 
and to the two things which troubled the Christian of 
"little faith," viz. food and raiment; our Saviour 
concludes with this general direction. "Take there- 
fore no thought for the morrow ; for the morrow shall 
take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto 
the day is the evil thereof." (Verse 34.) 

This verse contains a command, and a twofold 
reason for compliance with it. The command is abso- 
lute. "Take no thought for the morrow;" more 
literally, do not distract your mind about the morrow. 
And the double reason is; 1st. To-morrow will have 
trouble enough of its own. Do not anticipate it. Do 
not neglect present duty by antedating future and 
inevitable calamity. 2d. To-day has evil enough of 
its own — sufficient to perplex us, to try our faith, and 
withdraw our thoughts from God. Let us not burden 
ourselves in addition, with the trials and difficulties 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 145 

that await us in the future. "Let us not pull that 
upon ourselves all at once, which providence has 
wisely ordered to be borne in parcels." {Matthew 
Henry.) 

We will make a few comments upon the command, 
and the twofold reason annexed to it. We have seen 
throughout the whole discourse, that our Saviour 
never condemns a wrong without suggesting a 
remedy for it. The most effectual remedy against 
covetousness and needless anxiety about food and 
raiment, is entire unconcern about to-morrow. No 
man could possibly covet wealth and fame, no man 
could be greatly perplexed about the necessaries of 
life, who was regardless of the future. It is the 
thought of to-morrow that binds the servant of Mam- 
mon in strong and inflexible fetters. It is the thought 
of to-morrow that distresses the disciple of "little 
faith," when he reflects upon his slender means and 
inadequate resources. Our Saviour strikes at the 
root of the difficulty, when he positively forbids the 
distracting of our minds by thinking on the future; 
not the future of weeks, and months, and years, but 
the future of to-morrow. If harassing anxiety about 
even one day in advance, be peremptorily prohibited, 
how sinful must they be who neglect present service to 
God, while projecting into distant years their plans 
of ease, of wealth, and of honour. The whole scope 
of the Scriptures is opposed to man's prying into the 
future, and perplexing himself about his wants, either 
bodily or spiritual, beyond the mere supply of to-day. 



146 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

"The secret things belong unto the Lord our God; 
but those which are revealed belong unto us and to 
our children." Deut xxix. 29. Does not he, who 
harasses himself about the future, trench upon the 
province of the God of heaven? 

"To-morrow, Lord, is thine, 

Lodged in thy sovereign hand, 
And if its sun arise and shine, 
It shines by thy command." 

Under the Mosaic economy, the daily sacrifice 
taught daily dependence upon God. And so our 
Saviour directs us to say, "give us this day our 
daily bread." No supply is to be asked for beyond 
our immediate, pressing necessities. We must trust 
beyond the present moment to the Lord: "his com- 
passions fail not. They are new every morning." 
Lam. iii. 22, 23. Isaiah prayed that the Lord might 
be "their arm every morning." Isa. xxxiii. 2. And 
God ivill give daily the support of his almighty arm 
to him who is willing to lean upon it. The Israelites 
were left without a guide in the pathless wilderness. 
But the pillar of cloud appeared every morning to 
conduct them on their journey. Night now shrouds 
the world in gloom and darkness, but we believe that 
to-morrow's sun will bring light and gladness. And 
thus the pillar of cloud and the mighty sun in the 
heavens are types of that goodness and mercy which 
are renewed every day. We trust God for light and 
guidance to-morrow, may we not also trust his guardian 
care in all the affairs of life ? Undue solicitude about 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 147 



fear of death are all their lifetime subject to bon- 
dage." But why this fear? How do they know that 
they may not be cut down in a moment, or be insen- 
sible when the dread visitor shall make his approach ? 
Thus it was in two instances in our own knowledge, of 
those who greatly feared death. How does the fear- 
ful know that when the dying hour shall come, dying 
grace will not be given? There are thousands of 
well-authenticated cases to prove that God will not 
desert his chosen ones, when "heart and flesh do fail 
them." Jesus, with the sins of the world upon him, 
felt, for a time, the hidings of his Father's face; but 
before he expired, he could utter the triumphant cry, 
"It is finished," — "my great and glorious work is 
done." Poor, timid Cranmer, was all his lifetime sub- 
ject to bondage from fear of death; but he was more 
than conqueror in the last trying moment. 
"Jesus can make a dying bed, 
Feel soft as downy pillows are." 

Let us serve him when in health and strength ; we need 
not fear that he will desert us in the hour of greatest 
need. We will then have something better to sustain 
us than the cold philosophy of the heathen warrior, 
who argued against the fear of death, that 
" Cowards die many times before their deaths, 
The valiant never taste of death but once." 

Again, another looks with dread and horror upon 
the morrow, because of the dreariness and desolation 
that it will bring with it. The child of his bosom has 



148 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

been removed, the light of his house has been put out. 
Shall not to-morrow be as to-day, full of anguish and 
bitterness? Will it not come with its painful memo- 
ries, its crushing heart-weight, its ever-abiding con- 
sciousness of the empty chair by the fire-side? Ah, 
to-morrow may well be dreaded! the stone of Sisy- 
phus, that has been rolled up so wearily to-day, will 
be to roll up again to-morrow. But how do you know, 
bereaved parent, that your tenure of life is perpetual? 
How do you know that you may not be called in an 
instant to join your lost one? Why look forward 
gloomily to the morrow with its mourning and sorrow, 
when even now, the beloved arms may be stretched 
out to embrace you? 

The conclusion then of the whole matter is, to do 
present duty well and faithfully, and leave the future 
to our wise and merciful Father. It will be in safe 
hands; we need not trouble ourselves about it. 

Critical Exegesis. A more minute examination of a 
few words, in the last ten verses of the sixth chapter, 
deserves our attention. The word rendered "life," in 
the 25th verse, means also soul. Olshausen remarks, 
that this part of the discourse originates in a play upon 
this double meaning. The sensual man places the 
life-principle in sensual indulgence. But with the 
believer, the life is in the soul, and he "seeks first" 
its spiritual nourishment and support. In employing 
then this word, our Saviour tacitly rebukes the great 
concern for the perishing part, while indifferent to the 
immortal, undying part. 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 149 

The word rendered, "take no thought" in this verse 
and also in the 31st and 34th verses, is a compound 
of three words; not, split or divide, and the mind. 
It then literally means do not split, divide, or distract 
the mind. The translation, "take no thought," is too 
strong, and does not convey the right idea. The same 
word is employed, in its participle form without the 
negation, in the 27th verse. And again as a verb, 
but without the negation, in the 28th verse. Many 
have taken the impression that our Saviour forbids all 
thought about worldly matters. He simply forbids 
that distracting care, which interferes with the right 
performance of religious duty, and amounts to a dis- 
trust of the providence of God. "Fowls of the air 1 
might be rendered fowls of the heaven, and the imme- 
diate employment of the words, "your Heavenly 
Father," hints at the relationship of God to all his 
creatures. He is your Father, and also their Father; 
the locality assigned to him being the same as that 
assigned to them. The word, rendered "seek" in the 
32d verse, (for after all these things do the Gentiles 
seek,) is a different one from that in the 33d verse, 
"seek ye first," &c. It is stronger in the 32d, and 
signi6es seeking anxiously, intensely, with ardour. 
Doubtless, we are taught thereby how much more 
eagerly the carnal-minded seek the world than do the 
righteous the kingdom of heaven. "The children of 
this world are in their generation wiser than the chil* 
dren of light." Luke xvi. 8. 
14 



150 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

QUALIFICATION FOR REPROVING. 

To understand the connection between the 7th 
chapter and the preceding, it is necessary to remem- 
ber that our Saviour is now in that division of his 
discourse which treats of "what the disciples are not 
to be." They are here required not to be formalists 
like the Scribes and Pharisees; "for I say unto you, 
that except your righteousness shall exceed the right- 
eousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no 
case enter into the kingdom of heaven." In this 
section of his sermon, our Saviour first shows the 
doctrinal errors of these religious sects, and then 
their errors of practice. The exposure of their 
doctrinal errors closes with the 5th chapter, and 
then with the 1st verse of the 6th chapter, begins the 
exhibition of their sins of practice. These are shown 
to be three-fold. They did not perform the duty 
they owed to God, nor to themselves, nor to society. 
1st. They failed in their duty to God; (shown from 
1st verse to 19th.) They sought to promote their 
own fame, and not the glory of God, by their alms- 
giving, fasting, and prayer. 2d. They were false to 
their duty to themselves; (shown from 19th verse to 
the close of chapter vi.) Instead of attending to 
their highest interests, those which pertained to their 
undying souls, they were concerned only about their 
perishing bodies. They were devoted to the service 
of Mammon, and were constantly inquiring, "What 
shall we eat? and wherewithal shall we be clothed?" 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 151 

And now, in the 7th chapter, we have exhibited their 
dereliction of duty towards their fellow-creatures. 
Instead of exercising towards them that "charity, 
which suffereth long and is kind," they were bitter, 
harsh, and censorious in their judgments and opinions. 
In a word, "they trusted in themselves that they were 
righteous, and despised others." Luke xviii. 9. And 
thus our Saviour gives a faithful picture of Phari- 
saism ; shows it to be wrong in doctrine, and wrong 
in practice; wrong in its instruction of others, wrong 
in its own performance. 

With these preliminary observations to establish 
the connection between the 7th chapter and the two 
chapters which precede it, we will proceed to examine 
the following verses. 

" Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what 
judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with 
what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you 
again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in 
thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that 
is in thine own eye? or how wilt thou say to thy 
brother, Let me pull the mote out of thine eye; 
and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou 
hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own 
eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the 
mote out of thy brother's eye." (Verses 1 — 5.) 

Our Saviour gives us here a rule, and the penalty 
for its non-observance. The rule is "judge not," and 
the penalty for not observing it, is incurring a like 
judgment to that we exercise. We will refer to a 



152 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

separate section the consideration of the rule, and 
the punishment for neglecting it; and notice first the 
qualification required in reprovers. Two species of 
judging are contemplated. The first (treated of in 
the 3d verse) contents itself with being sharp-sighted 
enough to see the mote in a brother's eye, while blind 
to the beam in its own. The second (treated of in 
4th verse) may not be more malignant than the first, 
but it is more presumptuous, more officious, more 
intermeddling. It is not satisfied with finding the 
mote, it is keen to pull it out. It is a fanatical 
reformer. It wishes to set the world to rights. The 
beam in its eye has made it far-sighted. It sees 
hideous sins a great way off, but it cannot perceive 
the corruption at home. The silent phase of judging 
of the 3d verse, is ever first in order of time. It is 
the gathering of the thunder clouds before the ravage 
and desolation of the storm. It is the marshalling the 
hosts and planting the artillery, before the shock and 
carnage of the battle. The meddling phase prompts 
to intolerance, persecution and murder. It established 
the Inquisition. It covered "the Alpine mountains 
cold" with the bones of the saints of God. It 
drenched the valleys of Piedmont with their heart's 
blood. It butchered ninety thousand Huguenots in a 
single night. It kindled the fires of Smithfield. It 
drove to the wilds of America the chosen ones of the 
Most High. It invented thumb-screws, iron boots, 
and ten thousand instruments of torture, to maim, and 
mangle, and murder the heirs of God and joint-heirs 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 153 

of Jesus Christ, "of whom the world was not 
worthy." It is still active, rampant, ruthless, re- 
morseless, ravening for blood. It is found wherever 
fanatics do congregate, prompting them to say to 
their friends and neighbours, "stand aside, we are 
holier than you." It is now putting forth all its 
hellish powers to array one section of our glorious 
union against another; to fill the hearts of the 
common inheritors of the freedom won by common 
ancestors, with hatred, malice, and wrath towards 
each other. 

Such are the two forms of judging mentioned in 
the 3d and 4th verses. We may designate them as 
the silent-malignant, and the meddling-malignant. 
They stand to each other in the relation of parent 
and child, fountain and stream, cause and effect. 
The silent-malignant fills the heart of the censorious 
with ill-will and enmity towards his neighbour, and 
naturally ends in the meddling-malignant, which 
seeks to reform him. But if the man be unwilling to 
be reformed, if he refuse to have the mote pulled out 
of his eye, if he deny that there is any mote there, 
then the meddling-malignant is ready with dungeons 
and cells, racks and stocks, gibbets and stakes, either 
to bring the refractory to terms, or to punish him for 
his contumacy. And thus has arisen every species of 
persecution that has filled our world with lamentation 
and woe, misery and bloodshed. All have had their 
root in a fault-finding, censorious spirit, which judged 
rashly and harshly the religious sentiments and cha- 
14* 



154 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

racters of others. All private feuds, quarrels and 
frays, which have destroyed the happiness of indivi- 
duals, and the peace of society, have originated, with 
scarcely an exception, in precisely the same way. 

Our Saviour most emphatically condemns both 
forms of harsh judging; the silent-malignant and the 
meddling-malignant. But he bestows an epithet of 
contempt, " thou hypocrite," (verse 5,) upon the offici- 
ous fault-finder, which he does not inflict upon the 
man of silent malevolence. He, who was most free 
to rebuke others, most deserved rebuke himself. In 
administering this rebuke, Christ gives us a rule by 
which we may judge of our qualifications to turn cen- 
sors upon the conduct of others. The rule is thus 
expressed by himself; "first cast out the beam out 
of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly 
to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye." No- 
thing can be plainer than this direction. The man 
who sets up to reprove others must himself be sinless. 
And the figure employed by our Saviour contains the 
strongest possible reason why the rule should be just 
as it is. The man who has a beam, or a mote even, in 
his own eye, cannot see clear enough to pull out the 
mote from his brother's eye. So the man who has 
any sin in his heart, will have his judgment so warped, 
and his opinions so biassed, that he is incapable of 
forming a just estimate of his neighbour's character. 
What is most lovely in that character may seem to 
him most odious and censurable. The Jews could see 
"no form nor comeliness" in the Son of God. Sin- 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 155 

ners can see none now. Sin darkens the understand- 
ing and perverts the judgment. It utterly disqualifies 
us from measuring aright the motives and principles 
of others. 

The saints of the Most High have of all men been 
the most hated and persecuted. They have "had 
trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover 
of bonds and imprisonments: they were stoned, they 
were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the 
sword: they wandered about in sheep-skins and goat- 
skins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented." Heb. xi. 
36, 37. The worst of men have been the most 
caressed and flattered by the world. "Woe unto 
you," said the Son of God, "when all men speak 
well of you." All this proves, that man in his sin- 
darkened condition, is unfit to pass judgment upon 
his neighbour's conduct; and he is therefore wisely 
forbidden to exercise reproof. The smallest degree 
of personal guilt impairs the faculty of judging aright, 
so that only a perfectly holy being is qualified to per- 
ceive and rebuke the faults of others. "Let him that 
is without sin among you first cast a stone at her," 
was the reply of our blessed Redeemer to a crowd of 
meddling-malignants, thirsting for the blood of a 
woman, no more guilty than themselves. In exact 
accordance with this rule of our Saviour, does St. 
Paul define the qualifications of the censor: "Thou 
therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not 
thyself? thou that preachest, a man should not steal, 
dost thou steal? thou that sayest a man should not 



156 



CONSIDERATION OF THE 



commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou 
that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? thou 
that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking 
the law dishonourest thou God?" Rom. ii. 21-23. 
Here we are plainly told that no one has a right to 
rebuke others for sins which he himself commits. 
But on another occasion, St. Paul goes still further, 
and not only excludes from the office of censor, all 
who are now indulging in sin, but all who have ever 
sinned. " Put them in mind to be subject to princi- 
palities and powers To speak evil of no man, 

to be no brawlers, but gentle, showing all meekness 
to all men. For we ourselves were also sometimes 
foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and 
pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and 
hating one another." Titus iii. 1-3. Here we are 
absolutely forbidden to speak evil of any man, and 
the reason given for it is that we ourselves have been 
transgressors. The recollection of past offences 
should make us humble, should subdue that pride and 
self-complaisance which prompts to intolerance of the 
faults of others. If we were all more ready to search 
out the corruptions of our own hearts, than to pry 
into the failings of our acquaintances, the cry "God 
be merciful to me a sinner," would oftener be heard, 
than "see how wicked my neighbour is." The rule 
of our Saviour and that of St. Paul, taken in connec- 
tion, grant the privilege of censuring others, to those 
alone who are sinless, and have ever been so. If it 
were exercised only by those, there would be no more 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 157 

gossiping, no more tattling, no more scandal-monger- 
ing, no more wrangling, no more quarreling, no more 
persecution. Fanaticism would lose its power to hurt 
and destroy. Feuds and frays, wars and rumours of 
wars would come to an end. Peace and good-will 
toward God and man would cover the whole earth, 
as the waters cover the sea. Arsenals would be 
turned into work-shops, and the implements of 
destruction into the tools of the artisan and husband- 
man. 

The question then may be asked, have we no right 
to form opinions of others, so that we may be able to 
select our associates and friends? Surely we have; 
and we are directed how to form our opinion of them. 
"By their fruits shall ye know them." We have a 
right to form our estimate of men by the fruits of 
their lives — by their external conduct. We may 
judge of their actions, but we may not judge of the 
motives to those actions. " The secret things belong 
unto the Lord our God." It is presumptuous, then, 
to go beyond the outward manifestation, and seek to 
pry into the secret spring of action. The deeds of 
men give a fair test of their character, and we need 
no other. " Can a corrupt tree bring forth good 
fruit?" Hence, without going beyond the test given 
us, we may question a seemingly good deed from a 
man of known bad character. We judge of a tree by 
its yield during a succession of years, not by a single 
bearing. And here we would enter the caution, that 
thuugh wc are permitted, for our guidance in social 



158 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

intercourse, to judge men by their outward conduct, 
yet should that judgment be unfavourable, we have 
no right to blazon it abroad ; only when called upon 
by the civil authorities, or when urged by a sense of 
duty to warn friends against a dangerous character, 
may we with propriety make our opinion known. 
Dr. Brown says, " I apprehend that the command, 
' Speak evil of no man,' requires us steadily to avoid 
giving an opinion to a man's disadvantage to any one 
but to himself, except when duty demands it." 
[Brown s Exposition, page 251.) And though cir- 
cumstances may warrant the divulging of an adverse 
opinion of our neighbour, they will not, of course, 
excuse us, should that opinion have been hastily and 
uncharitably formed. 

Magistrates and rulers are allowed more latitude 
in regard to reproving. They are the vicegerents of 
God upon earth. "The powers that be, are ordained 
of God." "By me princes rule, and nobles, even 
all the judges of the earth." Those in authority, 
then, are not forbidden to judge and speak evil, 
simply because God has delegated this prerogative to 
them. They may lawfully censure and condemn, and 
their voice of admonition and rebuke should be as the 
voice of God. " Rulers" should be " a terror to evil- 
doers." They are, of course, then, permitted to 
reprove and punish. " But woe unto them that decree 
unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness, 
which they have prescribed." Isa. x. 1. " Cursed 
be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 159 

fatherless and widow. And all the people shall say 
Amen." Deut. xxvii. 19. " Thou shalt not wrest 
judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither 
take a gift ; for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, 
and pervert the words of the righteous." Deut. xvi. 
19. The ruler who makes an unjust decree, and the 
magistrate who wrests judgment, not only wrong their 
fellow-creatures, but also tarnish the glory of God ; 
just as unworthy ambassadors dishonour the govern- 
ments which they represent. And just here lies the 
only true ground of rebellion against constituted 
authority. Wicked rulers have forfeited their cha- 
racter as the representatives of God. They are no 
longer his delegates; and the question of submission 
or resistance to their mandates, becomes simply a 
question of expediency, and not of conscience. And 
thus we justify the English rebellion of 1649 and that 
of 1688 ; the revolt of the Netherlands in 1572 ; our 
own Revolution in 1776 ; the unsuccessful insurrection 
in Mexico, under Hidalgo, in 1810; the overthrow of 
the Spaniards by Iturbide in 1821; the dethronement 
of Iturbide himself in 1824 ; the expulsion of the 
Spaniards from South America, 1821-6, &c, &c. 

Ministers of the gospel, in their official character, 
are probably exempt altogether from the penalty 
annexed to judging others. Their vocation is of 
reproof, as well as of warning and exhortation. They 
are the mouth-pieces of the Most High, and their 
messages, delivered in his fear, should be as the 
oracles of the living God. But even this privileged 



160 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

class of men are directed to mingle charity and 
forbearance with their censure. "Reprove, rebuke, 
exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine." "In 
meekness instructing those that oppose themselves." 
Even Moses was not allowed to use harsh language 
to the rebellious Israelites. Because "he spake un- 
advisedly with his lips," he was not permitted to 
enter into the promised rest. 

Parents, masters, teachers, and all who are acting 
as delegates of God, may, in that capacity, judge and 
execute sentence, provided that they do so with all 
due deliberation, with all Christian charity and with 
all due consideration. But all who are hasty to form 
harsh opinions of others in their own hearts, and are 
rash to express their opinions when not called upon 
by the civil authorities or by a sense of duty, violate 
the precept of our Saviour, and are liable to the 
punishment annexed to that violation. There is no 
precept of our Master more frequently and more 
flagrantly violated than this in respect to judging. 
The chief cause of it is doubtless to be found in the 
depravity of human nature ; but it may also proceed, 
in part, from a misinterpretation of the privilege 
granted to us, of judging men by the fruits of their 
lives. Some honestly believe that the privilege vir- 
tually abrogates the precept, and think that when 
forming the most uncharitable opinions of men's mo- 
tives, they are only judging them by their fruits. 
This is plainly a perversion. The tree is to be judged 
by the fruit, not by the hidden juices and concealed 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 161 

processes of vegetation. So the man is to be judged 
by his outward conduct, and not by the secret work- 
ings of his heart. We understand the command, 
"judge not," to refer especially to judgment of mo- 
tives — just the sort of judgment which the men of 
the world pass, when they pronounce all religion 
hypocrisy — just the sort of judgment bigots pass, 
when they regard all denominations corrupt except 
their own — just the sort of judgment proud Pharisees 
pass, when they look with scorn upon poor Publicans 
worshipping afar off. The visible conduct may be 
judged, and if we feel aggrieved by it, we have ample 
directions given us how to act. Matt, xviii. 15-17. 
These, it is needless to say, do not warrant us in pub- 
lishing abroad our neighbour's transgressions. 

RETRIBUTION. 

"For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be 
judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be 
measured to you again." (Ver. 2.) Our Saviour gave 
two reasons against harsh judgment of the principles 
and character of others. 1st. That we thereby incur 
the displeasure of God, and that he will deal with us 
as we have dealt with our neighbours. 2d. That we 
are incapable of judging aright with our sin-darkened 
understandings. 

It suited our purpose better to consider the second 
reason first ; we will now examine the first reason. 
The main idea here is, that the treatment we give, 
15 



162 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

or meditate to give others, God will give to us. Our 
happiness for time and for eternity is in our own 
hands. Each of us holds a measuring rod, more 
powerful than the magic wand of Mercury, more won- 
derful than the staff of Moses, that confounded the 
wise men of Egypt. It is a rod with which we are 
meting out every moment our weal or our woe for all 
eternity. The wand of Mercury had no power over 
the superior gods ; but this (with reverence be it 
spoken) seems to influence even the great God of 
heaven ; for just as we treat him, will he treat us. 
He loves them that love him. Prov. viii. 17. With 
the merciful he will show himself merciful, and with 
the upright man he will show himself upright. With 
the pure he will show himself pure ; and with the fro- 
ward he will show himself unsavoury. 2 Chron. xxii. 
25, 26. If in time of health and prosperity we set at 
naught his counsel and will have none of his reproof, 
he will also laugh at our calamity, and mock when 
our fear cometh. Prov. i. 25, 26. How strange it 
seems, that the great Author of an infinite system of 
worlds should measure his conduct by that of a poor 
creature, who is but a speck on the surface of one of 
these worlds. And yet such is the teaching of God's 
Holy Word. It is his law that men shall be the authors 
of their own happiness or their own misery, both in 
this life and that which is to come. Let the circum- 
stances by which two men are surrounded be precisely 
the same, and yet the one will be happy and the other 
wretched. The poet has truly said, 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 163 

. . . "From out the self-same fount 
One nectar drank, another draughts of gall. 
Hence, from the self-same quarter of the sky, 
One saw ten thousand angels look and smile ; 
Another saw as many demons frown; 
One discord heard, where harmony inclined 
Another's ear. The sweet was in the taste, 
The beauty in the eye, and in the ear 
The melody; and in the man — (for God 
Necessity of sinning laid on none) — 
To form the taste, to purify the eye 
And tune the ear, that all he tasted, saw 
Or heard, might be harmonious, sweet and fair." 

The experience of every man must confirm the 
truth of the above statement. And the philosophy of 
it is to be found in this, that men get the very mea- 
sure which they give or meditate to give to others. 
Thus, the kind and gentle are generally treated with 
great kindness and gentleness. Even the contentious 
are constrained to be courteous to them. "For a soft 
answer turneth away wrath." The irascible and irri- 
table, on the contrary, excite the anger and indigna- 
tion of their associates. Thus, too, the haughty and 
supercilious, who lightly esteem others, are but lightly 
esteemed themselves. But the meek and lowly are 
held in high repute. Thus, too, the liberal man meets 
with unbounded generosity, while the churlish miser 
is reckoned with to the last farthing. Thus, too, the 
vainglorious babbler who chatters away to show his 
superiority to others, is esteemed a fool. But "even 
a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise ; 
and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of 



164 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

understanding." Thus, too, the mischief-maker, who 
is constantly devising evil for others, is ever in trouble 
himself. "Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein ; and 
he that rolleth a stone, it will return upon him." 
Prov. xxvi. 27. "The heathen are sunk down into 
the pit that they made; in the net which they hid is 
their own foot taken." Ps. ix. 15. Who is so fre- 
quently maligned and misrepresented as the slander- 
er ? "A false witness shall not go unpunished, and 
he that speaketh lies shall not escape." Prov. xix. 5. 
" They whet their tongue like a sword, and bend 
their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words ; 
that they may shoot in secret at the perfect; sud- 
denly do they shoot at him, and fear not. But God 
shall shoot at them with an arrow ; suddenly shall 
they be wounded. So shall they make their own 
tongue to fall upon themselves." Ps. lxiv. Here we 
are taught that the slanderer is punished in the same 
manner and with the same weapons that he punished 
others with. Thus, too, with men of blood — they are 
almost invariably made to fill bloody graves. How 
true it is, that "bloody and deceitful men shall not 
live out half their days." Ps. lv. 23. Though they 
may escape the penalty of the law, they cannot fly 
from the vengeance of God. So common a thing has 
been the untimely death of the murderer, that it has 
not failed to attract the notice even of the heathen. 
When Paul, after his shipwreck, stood warming himself 
by the fire on the island of Melita, a "viper came out 
of the heat and fastened on his hand. And when the 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 165 

barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, 
they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a 
murderer, whom though he hath escaped the sea, yet 
vengeance suffereth not to live." Acts xxviii. 3, 4. 
This was, doubtless, not a mere superstition with the 
barbarians, but the result of experience. They had, 
no doubt, observed the frequency with which men of 
blood have been suddenly cut off in their wickedness. 
The observation of the whole world confirms the same 
thing. In fact it has passed into a proverb that 
" murder will out." Since the day that Abel fell by 
the hand of his brother, blood, by whomsoever shed, 
crieth unto the Lord from the ground. And the 
wretched homicide is cursed from the earth, that has 
opened her mouth to receive the victim's blood. Gen. 
iv. 10, 11. 

We have many instances both in sacred and pro- 
fane history of retributive justice. We only notice a 
few of them. 

The Israelites after the death of Joshua, fought 
against, conquered and captured Adoni-Bezek, the 
lord of Bezek. They cut off his thumbs and great 
toes. This was not an uncommon punishment in 
those days, nor in fact for many ages after. It was 
done to incapacitate the captive for the use of the 
javelin and the sword, and to unfit him for marches 
and campaigns. This, however, is the only instance 
in the sacred record, of so barbarous a punishment ; 
and mark the reason : "And Adoni-Bezek said, Three- 
score and ten kings, having their thumbs and great 
15* 



166 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table ; as 
I have done, so God hath requited me." Jacob lied to 
his father and defrauded his brother of his heritage. 
Laban defrauded him of the wife for whom he had 
laboured seven years. His own sons lied to him, as 
he had lied to his father. And as it was the partiality 
of his mother for him that led him to deceive Isaac, 
and wrong Isaac's favourite ; so it was his own parti- 
ality for Joseph that induced his sons to wrong their 
father's favourite and deceive himself. Saul fell by 
his own hand, the hand that so often sought to slay 
David. Ahab, at the instigation of his wicked wife, 
Jezebel, caused Naboth to be put to death, so that he 
might get his vineyard. But Elijah met him, as he 
was going down to take possession of his blood-bought 
treasure. " Hast thou killed and also taken posses- 
sion. Thus saith the Lord, ' In the place where dogs 
licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, 
even thine.' And of Jezebel also spake the Lord, say- 
ing, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jez- 
reel." These predictions were fulfilled to the very 
letter. Daniel was thrown into a den of lions through 
the malice of his enemies. But God " sent his angel 
and shut the lions' mouths." And the king, Darius, 
commanded that the accusers of Daniel should be 
thrown into the same den. "And the lions had the 
mastery of them and brake all their bones in pieces 
or ever they had touched the bottom of the den." 
The Hebrew youths, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed- 
nego, escaped the heat of the fiery furnace unscathed, 






SEKMON ON THE MOUNT. 167 

but those that threw them in perished by the flame. 
Haman, to signalize his vengeance against Mordecai, 
prepared for him a gallows fifty cubits high. He was 
himself suspended from that lofty height, a monument 
to the whole city of Shusan of the retributive justice 
of God. The Jews sold our Saviour for thirty pieces 
of silver, the price of a slave, and then crucified the 
Lord of glory. We are told that they themselves 
were sold into slavery until no purchasers could be 
found, and were crucified until "wood was wanting 
with which to make crosses." 

Profane as well as sacred history is full of instances 
of fearful retribution, attending actual or contempla- 
ted crimes. Thus we read that Pope Alexander VI. 
prepared a jar of poisoned sweet-meats, with which 
to destroy the wealthy Cardinal Corneto. He ate of 
them himself and died in agony. Louis, the Debon- 
naire, son and successor of Charlemagne, put his 
nephew Bernard to death, and forced his three natural 
brothers to assume the clerical tonsure. This was 
done at the instigation of his queen. She died, and 
he married again. His second wife was unfaithful 
and gave birth to a spurious son. His own three sons 
treated him as unnaturally as he had treated his three 
brothers, and finally the spurious child succeeded to 
•the empire of France. So that all of Louis's crimes 
to secure France to his descendants were completely 
frustrated, and he gained nothing but a similar un- 
natural treatment, to that which he had shown. Anne 
Bolcyn, maid of honour to queen Catherine, encouraged 



168 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

the addresses of Henry VIII., and thereby stimula- 
ted him to divorce his lawful wife. When Catherine 
died of grief and mortification, Anne could not con- 
ceal her exultation, and said that she was then a 
queen indeed. But at that very moment, repayment 
in kind was awaiting the rejoicing queen. The lustful 
monarch had looked with unhallowed love upon Jane 
Seymour, one of her own maids of honour, and Anne 
was brought to the block to make way for her rival. 
But justice was not merely meted out to the wretched 
Anne. Cardinal Wolsey, who conspired against 
Catherine and encouraged Henry to divorce her, was 
himself soon after disgraced and divorced from all 
his wealth and dignity. Cranmer, who was active in 
the same wicked deed, but from different motives from 
Wolsey, was burned years after by the daughter of 
the disgraced queen. Mary thirsted for the blood of 
the man who had wronged her mother, and her hatred 
of Cranmer more than her love of Catholicism 
brought him to the stake. Napoleon divorced the 
noble Josephine, so that the crown of France might 
be transmitted to his own descendants. A grandson 
of the divorced queen is now on the throne, and the 
race of Napoleon Buonaparte is extinct. The impe- 
rious and vindictive Sarah cast out Hagar and Ish- 
mael into the wilderness, saying " the son of this 
bond-woman shall not be heir with my son, even with 
Isaac." But all that country is now possessed by the 
descendants of the bond-woman, while the children of 
Isaac are scattered over the face of the whole earth. 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 169 

And what is the history of the different dynasties 
that have tyrannized over mankind, but the record of 
murder and usurpation, and then in turn, dethrone- 
ment and death ? They sprung up in blood, and they 
went out in blood. What a black catalogue of crimes 
do the histories of the Assyrian and Persian empires 
present. Treason and assassination, and then fearful 
retribution by the dagger or poisoned bowl, upon the 
traitors themselves ; these constitute almost one-half 
their annals. It is but little better in modern history. 
We have the same circle; beginning in conspiracy and 
murder, and coming back to the starting point of con- 
spiracy and murder. We meet this bloody round of 
treachery and vengeance again and again in Eng- 
land, during the dark era of the "war of the roses." 
Edward IV. and his brutal brothers murdered Henry 
VI., the Prince of Wales, and thousands of the adhe- 
rents of the house of Lancaster. And then the royal 
trio turned their fury against one another. Clarence 
was murdered by his brothers. Edward perished in 
the prime of his life ; his death being hastened by the 
cares and anxieties attending the usurped crown, by 
remorse for his brother's death, and by his indulgence 
in those pleasures which his assumed rank gave him. 
His two sons were murdered by command of their 
uncle Richard, and Richard himself was slain in 
battle. And nearly all who aided the fierce brothers 
in their cruelties, came to untimely ends. 

It is remarkable how few great conquerors have 
died natural deaths. Alexander the Great perished 






170 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

in his thirty-third year; it matters but little whether 
by poison (as some suppose) or by excess in drinking. 
In either case, his conquests led to his death ; for his 
career of victory brought about him a crowd of syco- 
phants, who paid him the most idolatrous homage and 
encouraged him in his excesses. Hannibal destroyed 
himself by poison, to escape from falling into the 
hands of his enemies. Caesar fell beneath the daggers 
of his former friends, in the Senate house of Rome. 
Napoleon died in his fifty-second year ; his death 
being hastened by his confinement, by mortification 
at the loss of his power, and by the vexatious treat- 
ment to which he was subjected. Charles XII. was 
killed by a cannon ball. Gustavus Adolphus fell in 
battle on the plains of Lutzen ; even that virtuous 
monarch forming no exception to the law, " He that 
killeth with the sword must be killed by the sword." 
The greatest of warriors, Marshal Turenne, was killed 
by a cannon ball at Saltzbach. The brutal Suwarroff 
died of a broken heart because of the neglect of his 
royal master, Paul. A similar fate was that of Gon- 
salvo de Cordova, " the Great Captain," as the 
Spaniards still delight to call him. He died in 
retirement, an exile from court and under the dis- 
pleasure of his sovereign. The declining years of 
Cortes were embittered by the malice and envy of 
his enemies. Alvarado, his lieutenant, who won such 
an enviable notoriety for his cruelty and rapacity, 
filled at length a bloody grave. The remorseless 
Francisco Pizarro fell by the hands of wretches as 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 171 

pitiless as himself. Diego Almagro, who had signal- 
ized himself by his cruelty to the Peruvian monarch, 
Atahualpa, was strangled to death whilst a prisoner. 
And so hundreds of other instances might be given, 
to show that God does avenge the shedding of the 
blood of those made in his own image. 

Parallel to the fate of warriors and conquerors is 
that of tyrants and wicked rulers. How few of these 
have been permitted to live out half their days ! The 
licentious monster, Domitian, fell by the hand of the 
assassin. The fiddling fool and bloody knave, Nero, 
poisoned himself. The ferocious Caligula was killed 
by conspirators, after a reign of four years. The 
brutal Commodus was first poisoned and then strang- 
led. The savage fratricide, Caracalla, was stabbed 
with a dagger. The effeminate, superstitious, vindic- 
tive Elagabalus, was assassinated by the Pretorian 
guards. The remorseless giant, Maximin, was slain 
in his tent. The cruel debauchee, Gallienus, was 
killed by a dart from the hand of a conspirator. 
Carinus, who, Gibbon says, united the extravagances 
of Elagabalus with the cruelties of Domitian, fell by 
the hand of an injured husband. Gallus, distinguished 
for his treachery and blood-thirstiness, was betrayed 
and murdered, &c., &e. And if we come down to the 
darkest and most disgraceful of all the periods in 
history, the era of the French Revolution, what a 
commentary is afforded on the text, " As thou hast 
done, it shall be done to thee ; thy reward shall return 
upon thine own head." Obadiah 15. How few of 



172 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

the traffickers in blood were permitted to close their 
lives in peace! How fearful was the retribution upon 
the ruthless triumvirate, Danton, Marat and Robes- 
pierre. Danton was sentenced to the guillotine by 
the very revolutionary tribunal which he himself had 
established. Marat was stabbed to the heart by 
Charlotte Corday. She pretended that she had im- 
portant information respecting his intended victims 
in Caen, and thus got access to his person. " She 
found him in the bath, where he eagerly inquired 
after the proscribed deputies at Caen. Being told 
their names, ' they shall soon meet the punishment 
they deserve,' said Marat. 'Yours is at hand,' said 
she, and stabbed him to the heart." (Alison.) And 
thus he fell with murder in his heart, and the words 
of death on his lips. The vengeance of Heaven on 
Robespierre, the greatest monster of the three, was 
still more signal. His lower jaw was shattered by a 
pistol ball ; he was then dragged by the heels over 
the pavements into his own quarters, and laid on the 
very table on which he had signed so many death- 
warrants. There he lay for nine hours, enduring 
agony unutterable from his wound, half frantic with 
terror of death, and cowering under the jeers and 
taunts of the mob. He was next taken to the very 
all in which he had a few days before confined some 
of his victims. At 4 o'clock next morning he was 
taken to the scaffold, erected on the very spot where 
his royal victims, Louis XVI. and Maria Antoinette, 
had been executed. "The blood from his jaw burst 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 173 

through the bandage and overflowed his dress ; his 
face was deadly pale. He shut his eyes, but could 
not close his ears against the imprecations of the 
multitude. A woman, breaking from the crowd, 
exclaimed, ' Murderer of all my kindred, your agony 
fills me with joy ; descend to hell, covered with the 
curses of every mother in France.' Twenty of his 
comrades were executed before him; when he ascended 
the scaffold, the executioner tore the bandage from 
his face; the lower jaw fell upon his breast, and he 
uttered a yell which filled every heart with horror. 
For some minutes the frightful figure was held up to 
the view of the multitude ; he was then placed under 
the axe, and the last sounds which reached his ears 
were their exulting shouts, which were prolonged for 
some minutes after his death. 'Yes, Robespierre, 
there is a God!' said a man, approaching the lifeless 
body of one so lately the object of dread. His fall 
was felt by all present as an immediate manifestation 
of the Divinity." (Alison.) The butcher, Couthon, 
was guillotined. So was his colleague, the sanguinary 
atheist, St. Just. 

After the deaths of Marat and Danton, Couthon 
and St. Just with Robespierre constituted the second 
revolutionary triumvirate. They suffered with him on 
the same spot where the royal family had suffered, 
and where the allied sovereigns, on their mission of 
vengeance and retribution, " took their station, when 
their victorious armies entered Paris, on the 31st of 
March, 1814." Farquier-Tinville, the public accuser, 
16 



174 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

probably the blackest hearted villain of them all, was 
brought to the block (soon after the fall of Robes- 
pierre,) amid the execrations of an immense multi- 
tude. Hebert, one of the most pitiless of all "the 
terrorists," the projector of the "feasts of reason," in 
contempt of religion and a future state, manifested 
the utmost terror, when his own head was brought 
under the revolving axe. Some of the terrors of that 
after life, which he had affected to disbelieve, were 
made by retributive justice to be his portion even in 
this. The "first apostle of liberty," as he called 
himself, Camille Desmarlins, was followed to execu- 
tion by thousands of the kindred of those he had mur- 
dered. The wretch met his death amid the curses of 
the infuriated mob, and he in turn cursing them with 
the most vindictive hate until the fatal axe fell. A 
similar fate befell Sechelles, Henriot, Coffinhal, Simon, 
and all the leaders of the infernal Jacobin club, with 
perhaps two exceptions. Collot D'Herbois died in con- 
finement and exile. Barere lived to be an old man and 
died universally hated, after having endured during 
his long life a thousand deaths from fear, disgrace, 
and the stings of conscience. The Girondists, who 
had been first to sow the storm of revolution, were 
the first to reap the whirlwind of destruction. Their 
great leaders, Vergniaud, Brissot, &c, went to the 
place of execution singing the revolutionary song, 
which they themselves, (if we mistake not,) had com- 
posed, to excite the passions of the people. Truly 
" did they eat of the fruits of their own ways and 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 175 

were filled with their own devices." And were not 
the horrors of the "Reign of Terror" and the dread- 
ful sufferings entailed upon France by a war of 
twenty-two years with nearly all Europe, the results 
of the retributive justice of God ? France, as a 
nation, had defied the power of God, and even denied 
his existence. As they would not have Him to reign 
over them, he left them to themselves, to the domin- 
ion of their own evil passions and depraved appetites. 
They were just let alone, as tliey wished to he. And 
the pathway of blood, from Moscow to the mountains 
of Spain, was traced by their own hands. Even the 
corrupt Sieyes could perceive that the punishment of 
Heaven was to leave his enemies to work their own 
will. These wretches had declared that it was their 
mission "to dethrone the King of Heaven, as well as 
the monarchs of earth." The Goddess of Reason was 
to be worshipped, instead of the "only wise God." 
Accordingly, a veiled prostitute was brought into the 
national assembly. One of the leaders of the munici- 
pality arose, and unveiling the figure, said, " Mortals 
cease to tremble before the thunders of a God whom 
your fears have created. Henceforth acknowledge 
no divinity but reason." And all France answered 
Amen. " The village bells were silent ; Sunday was 
obliterated. Infancy entered the world without a 
blessing, and age left it without hope. In lieu of the 
services of the church, the fetes of the new worship 
were performed by the most abandoned females; it 
appeared as if the Christian truth had been succeeded 



176 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

by the orgies of the Babylonian priests, or the gross- 
ness of the Hindoo theocracy. On every tenth 
day, a revolutionary leader ascended the pulpit and 
preached atheism to the bewildered audience; Marat 
was deified, and even the instrument of death sancti- 
fied by the name of the ' Holy Guillotine.' On all 
the public cemeteries, the inscription was placed, 
' death is an eternal sleep.' The comedian Monort, 
in the church of St. Roch, carried impiety to its 
utmost length. 'God, if you exist,' said he, ' avenge 
your injured name. I bid you defiance; you remain 
silent ; you dare not launch your thunders. Who after 
this will believe in your existence ?' " {Alison.) God 
demonstrated his existence far more effectually by 
leaving this wretched people to work out their own 
ruin, than by striking the silly blasphemer dead on 
the spot. After one million twenty-two thousand and 
three hundred and fifty-one (1,022,351) victims had 
fallen during the Reign of Terror, a peasant standing 
over the dead body of the chief murderer, felt the 
demonstration of the Divine Being to be complete, 
and exclaimed, " Yes, Robespierre, there is a God." 
But not only was the demonstration to be written out 
in blood, the corollary also was to be traced in the 
tears of agony of the God-forsaken people. The revo- 
lutionary tribunal was overthrown, but to establish a 
military despotism. When Robespierre fell, Napoleon 
rose. France had yet to wade through blood for 
twenty years. Four million and one hundred and 
three thousand (1,103,000) of her sons were drafted 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 177 

for war, and their bones were scattered over every 
country in Europe, and even found a last resting 
place in Africa and Asia. And finally, a foreign 
army entered the capital of the nation, and imposed 
upon the people a sovereign whom they detested. 
Surely, the experiment of living without God has 
been tried on a sufficiently large scale, to prove that 
no greater curse can befall a nation than for Provi- 
dence to desert those who desert him. Of all forms 
of retribution, this is the most terrible. The prayer 
of states as well as of individuals, should be, " Leave 
us not, neither forsake us, God of our salvation." 

We cannot close this subject without noticing the 
marked displeasure of God toward the inventors of 
instruments of torture and destruction, and also to- 
wards the devisers of horrible punishments. A car- 
dinal invented a cage, of peculiar structure, for the 
punishment of heretics. He himself was confined for 
many years in it. Some historians relate a similar 
story of Tamerlane confining Bajazet, in the cage 
intended for the Tartar chief. The whole account is, 
however, discredited by others. A figure, known, as 
"the maiden," was devised for the punishment of 
Protestants. It was an image of the Virgin Mary, 
with extended arms. The victim was forced forward 
to the figure, when the arms clasped him in a deadly 
embrace, while hundreds of concealed lancets pierced 
his body. The author of this infernal device was the 
first to suffer by it. The guillotine takes its name 
from the man who contrived and perished by it. It 
16* 



178 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

has been said that the fatal blow that terminated the 
life of the Texan warrior, Col. Bowie, was from his 
own terrible knife. Charles II., king of Navarre, was 
a noted poisoner. His clothes caught fire, when satu- 
rated with brandy, and the murderous wretch had 
his flesh burned off to the very bones. Aaron, a cour- 
tier, recommended to the usurper Andronicus, to put 
out the eyes and cut off the tongues of his enemies. 
The cruel adviser was treated in precisely this man- 
ner, by Isaac Angelus ; who dethroned and put to 
death Andronicus, A. D. 1203. St. Croix, a noted 
poisoner of the lGth century, perished by the fumes 
of the poisons he was making in his laboratory. 

We will finish the discussion of this subject with 
two memorable instances of retribution. The disper- 
sion of the Jews and the desolation of their land were 
foretold by Moses ; and the reason assigned for the 
heavy judgment upon them was the neglect of the 
Sabbath. " Then shall the land enjoy her Sabbaths, 
as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies' 
land ; even then shall the land rest and enjoy her 
Sabbaths. As long as it lieth desolate shall it rest ; 
because it did not rest in your Sabbaths when ye 
dwelt upon it." Lev. xxvi. 34, 35. Because the 
Jewish people refused to observe the Sabbath, and to 
let their lands lie idle on God's holy day, they have 
been made " an astonishment, a proverb and a by- 
word;" and the soil, that they would not suffer to 
rest of their own free will, has had a long rest granted 
it by the sovereign will of Jehovah. Here is retri- 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 179 

bution of the most fearful kind, God vindicating the 
violation of his own righteous law. And this sort of 
retributive justice has not been confined to the Jewish 
nation. It has fallen upon Sabbath-breakers in every 
age of the world. Lord Castlereagh has not been the 
only violator of the sanctity of God's appointed rest, 
who first became a maniac and then a suicide. Sir 
Robert Peel, who had long observed the desecration 
of the Sabbath by political statesmen, &c, has given 
this decided testimony: "I never knew a man who 
habitually worked on the Sabbath, who did not fail 
in either mind or body." 

The last instance that we will give, is one deeply 
engraven on the American heart. The universal 
verdict of the world has long since pronounced our 
Washington the greatest of warriors, the greatest of 
statesmen, and the purest of men. Macaulay closes 
his eulogy upon Hampden with these words : " It was 
when the vices and ignorance which the old tyranny 
had generated threatened the new freedom with de- 
struction, that England missed that sobriety, that 
self-command, that perfect soundness of judgment, 
that perfect rectitude of intention, to which the his- 
tory of revolutions furnishes no parallel, or furnishes 
a parallel in Washington alone." Even Byron 
lamented that earth had no more seed to produce a 
second Washington. The character of the illustrious 
Virginian, is reverenced in despotic Russia, as well a8 
in free England ; it is honoured equally by the haughty 
Spaniard as by the mercurial Frenchman. No one 



180 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

now dare question the policy or the motives of the 
hero, sage and Christian; but in the dark days of '76, 
when he and his army were enduring every privation 
at Valley Forge, an attempt was made to ruin his 
character and deprive him of his command. General 
Conway was the chief conspirator, and General Gates, 
who was to be the successor of Washington, was 
deeply implicated in the plot. Anonymous communi- 
cations were sent to Congress, and also to Henry, 
then Governor of Virginia, accusing Washington of 
too great prudence in battle, and of incapacity to 
command an army. Now notice the result. Conway 
was compelled to resign his Inspector-General's office; 
he was driven into a duel with General Cadwalader, 
and was finally forced to hide himself to escape the 
indignation of the army. Gates himself showed the 
utmost incapacity four years after, at Camden, and 
such an excess of prudence, that he reached Charlotte, 
eighty miles distant, before any of the fugitives from 
his array, except a few of his personal guard. And 
as he had tried to supersede Washington, he himself 
was superseded in command of the southern army by 
Green, who had been true to Washington. 

We have now called in sacred and profane history, 
and the experience of mankind to confirm the decla- 
ration of our Saviour, "For with what judgment ye 
judge, ye shall be judged ; and with what measure ye 
mete, it shall be measured to you again." We have 
seen the bloody cut off in the midst of his days. We 
have seen the traitor betrayed. We have seen the 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 181 

slanderer of the reputation of others lose his own, 
and die in disgrace and infamy. We have seen the 
destroyer and desolater of countries himself ruined 
and left desolate. We have seen the tyrant oppressed, 
and the overthrower of dynasties himself overthrown. 
And we have seen the Sabbath-breaker compelled to 
keep a perpetual Sabbath. These instances have 
been collected almost at random ; thousands of others 
might have been found in the pages of history. Gibbon, 
with all his scepticism, was too profound a historian, 
and too wise a philosopher, not to have discovered 
abundant traces of retributive justice in God's govern- 
ment of the universe. "I shall not," says he, "be 
readily accused of fanaticism, yet I must admit that 
there are often strong appearances of retribution in 
human affairs." Those who were even more heathenish 
than Gibbon himself could perceive this retribution. 
The myth about Tantalus perpetually tortured with 
hunger and thirst, for the crime of giving improper food 
to the gods, was but the embodiment of the universal 
idea, that justice in kind and degree was proportioned 
to the offence. And when justice was thus meted out, 
it met the approbation of the whole heathen world, 
just -as it meets the approbation of all Christen- 
dom now. There is this radical difference, however, 
between the approval of the true Christian and that 
of the followers of false creeds; the Christian only 
approves when God or his appointed delegates measure 
out the punishment. The heathen have ever claimed 
the right to retaliate wrong themselves. In the one 



182 CONSIDERATION OF TIIE 

case it is retributive justice, in the other it is ven- 
geance. 

HYPOCRISY AND CENSOR10USNESS. 

"Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of 
thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to cast 
out the mote out of thy brother's eye." (Ver. 8.) 

Here the pretender to sanctity, and the fault finder, 
are placed in the same category; they constitute one 
and the same person. The reason of the identity is 
plain. The meek and lowly Jesus is the corner-stone 
of the temple of holiness. Humility is the root of 
the tree of righteousness; and the deeper the root 
strikes down into the soil of abasement, the lovelier 
will the fruits of the Spirit hang from the boughs. 
And among the golden clusters will be love, long- 
suffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness. Gal. v. 22. 
Pride is a plant of different growth. Its baneful 
root is in the summit of inflation, and its noxious 
fruits are hatred, variance, emulation, wrath, strife. 
Gal. v. 20. The disciple of the gentle Redeemer 
cannot, then, delight in censure. The proud child 
of Satan cannot, then, delight in praise. He who 
is adorned with the graces of the Spirit, is too meek 
to be a reprover. He who is endued with the temper 
and disposition of the Prince of Darkness, is an 
"accuser," like his master. He to whom the Spirit 
of Truth has shown the corruption of his own heart, 
is too much self-abased to be intolerant of the sins 
of others. He whom the father of lies has inflated 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 183 

with self-conceit and self-righteousness, is prone to 
judge harshly, and to persecute bitterly. And thus 
a censorious spirit is a good test of hypocrisy and the 
unregenerate state. Old Thomas Fuller has justly 
said: "Now by these shrewd signs a dissembler is 
often discovered. First : Heavy censuring of others 
for light faults. Second: Boasting of his own good- 
ness, &c." And the author of " Self-Knowledge" has 
in like manner pointed out the connection between 
hypocrisy and censoriousness. Mason, commenting on 
the 3d, 4th and 5th verses of this chapter, says, " Four 
things are intimated: First — That some are much 
more quicksighted to discern the faults of others 
than their own. Second — That they are often the 
most forward to correct and cure the foibles of others, 
who are least qualified for that office. Third — That 
they who are inclined to deal in censure should always 
begin at home. Fourth — Great censoriousness is 
great hypocrisy. 

"This common failing of human nature the heathen 
were very sensible of, and imaged it in the following 
manner. Every man, say they, carries two bags 
with him ; the one hanging before him and the other 
behind him ; into that before, he puts the faults of 
others ; into that behind, his own. By which means 
he never sees his own failings, whilst he has those of 
others always before his eyes." {John Mason.) 

It was a saying of Socrates, (as reported by Cicero,) 
that the easiest way for the hypocrite to be popular, 
was to practise the virtues which he pretended to 



184 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

have. He thinks differently, however, and hopes to 
build his reputation upon the ruin of that of others. 
He seeks to dim the lustre of the character of his 
neighbour, that his own may shine out by contrast. If 
there were no eagles, carrion crows might be esteemed 
noble birds. If there were no virtuous men, the ob- 
scene feeders on the characters of others might be 
esteemed pure and holy. The fault-finding hypocrite 
does not strive "to lift a mortal to the skies," but 
"to pull an angel down." He does not aim to excel 
others in goodness and truth, but to bring them down 
to his own level, or to sink them beneath him. 

To sum up the whole matter, then, censoriousness 
results from three things ; 1st. Pride ; the truly hum- 
ble sees too plainly the beam in his own eye, to be 
troubled about the mote in his brother's. 2d. Un- 
charitableness; "Charity thinketh no evil." The cen- 
sorious is destitute of that grace, without which all 
other attainments are "but as sounding brass and a 
tinkling cymbal." 3d. Envy; the censorious is un- 
easy, mortified and discontented, on account of the 
real or supposed excellencies of his neighbour, and 
endeavours to degrade him. Censoriousness proceeds 
from one of these sources, or from all three combined. 
It is a foul blot upon the Church, but is by no means 
confined to it. Those who delight in hunting out the 
failings of the professed disciples of Jesus Christ, and 
then triumphantly plume themselves on not being 
hypocrites, are, of all men in the world, fault-finding 
hypocrites. What but a spirit of envy and detraction 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 185 

makes them find pleasure in the corruption of the 
Church ? What but a desire to bring others down to 
their own degraded level ? And yet they look with 
great complacency upon the sins of Christians, and 
in the pride of their hearts are ready to thank God 
that they are not hypocrites ; apparently unconscious 
that the vilest form of hypocrisy is that which seeks 
to exalt itself by the overthrow of another. No 
animals are so detested and detestable as those which 
fatten themselves on corruption. 

IMPROPER SUBJECTS OF REPROOF. 

" Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither 
cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample 
them under their feet and turn again and rend you." 
(Ver. 6.) 

This verse furnishes an instance of what is called 
the introverted parallelism ; that is, where the first 
and fourth lines of the verse correspond, and the 
second corresponds with the third. We might write 
it thus : 

Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, 
Neither cast ye your pearls before swine, 
Lest they trample them under their feet, 
And turn again (i. e. the dogs) and rend you. 

(Barnes' Notes on (he Gospels.) 

The connection between this verse and the five pre- 
ceding verses, is apparent. We had there the quali- 
fications of reprovers, here of the reproved. Scott 
17 



186 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

justly says, " As every man is not qualified or author- 
ized to be a reprover, so every offender is not the 
proper subject of reproof. To persevere in giving 
instruction or counsel to some men, would be as im- 
proper as to throw the holy things, which were the 
food of the priests, unto unclean dogs; or to cast 
pearls before swine." Two classes of persons are 
represented in the sixth verse to be improper sub- 
jects of reproof. We may in plain language designate 
the first as the dog class ; and the second as the 
hog class. The dog stands as the type of the 
snarling, snapping sneerer and scorner. The hog is 
the fit emblem of the filthy and foolish, the lewd and 
the licentious. The growling cynic, Voltaire, fur- 
nishes a fine specimen of the canine class, while the 
low, drunken debauchee, Tom Paine, stands out pre- 
eminently as the representative of the swine class, 
wallowing in the mire, and glorying in their shame. 
Both dogs and swine were unclean in the Mosaic 
economy, and were regarded with abhorrence by the 
Jews. The word dog was the strongest possible 
epithet of contempt. " Is thy servant a dog, that he 
should do this great thing ?" said the indignant Hazael, 
when foretold the enormities that he would commit. 
And David, to show Saul thafr he was disgracing 
himself by his unjust persecution of an innocent man, 
used the following language : " After whom is the 
king of Israel come out? After whom dost thou 
pursue? after a dead dog?" In regard to swine, the 
Jews held them in such detestation, that it is said 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 187 

they would not even name them. The servants of 
Antiochus Epiphanes attempted to force swine's flesh 
into the mouth of Eleazar; but he suffered death 
rather than swallow the abomination. It is evident, 
then, from the employment of such strong epithets to 
designate the scoffer and the impure, that they are 
an abomination in the eyes of the Lord. The disciples 
are directed not to waste the precious truths of the 
gospel upon them. " It is not meet to take the 
children's bread and cast it to the dogs." Instead 
of feeding upon it thankfully, they will turn again 
and rend the giver. The wisest of men said, " Reprove 
not a scorner, lest he hate thee." " A scorner loveth 
not one that reproveth him." " He that reproveth a 
scorner, getteth to himself shame; and he that rebuketh 
a wicked man, getteth himself a blot." And we have 
also given us the reason of the desperate condition of 
the scoffer and blasphemer. It is found in this, that 
God metes out to him the same measure with which 
he measures. "Surely he scorneth the scorner; but 
he giveth grace unto the lowly." As the scorner has 
put away the fear of the Lord, the only true source 
of wisdom, he cannot be made wise or amended by 
reproof. Therefore it is idle to admonish him. " A 
scorner seeketh wisdom and findeth it not." Deserted 
by God, groping along in his sin-darkened condition, 
he is still too proud to listen to the voice of warning 
and reproof. "A scorner heareth not rebuke." It 
is folly to censure a deaf man. The ribald jester at 
divine truth, the bold blasphemer, is not a proper 
subject of reproof. 



188 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

Neither are the lewd proper subjects of reproof. 
The object of Christian rebuke is to affect the 
conscience by convincing the understanding. But 
Solomon says of the impure that they "lack under- 
standing," Prov. vi. 32. They are fools, and "fools 
make a mock at sin." It is unseemly to admonish 
them; "for excellent speech becometh not a fool." 
He glories in his shame: "it is abomination for a 
fool to depart from evil." The hog is his faithful 
representative, and as it will not give up the mire and 
the mud-puddle, so he will not give up his filth and 
beastliness. " Having eyes full of adultery and that 
cannot cease from sin." It is doubtless the duty of 
the gospel ministry to rebuke every species of sin. 
He that rides upon the white horse with his crown 
and bow, may barb his arrow with the truth so pro- 
claimed, and send it home to the heart of the scoffer 
and the adulterer. But we think that private indi- 
viduals are plainly forbidden to reprove the reviler 
and the dissolute. "Reproofs of instruction are ill- 
bestowed upon such, and expose the reprover to all 
the contempt and mischief that might be expected 
from dogs and swine. One can expect no other than 
that they will trample the reproofs under their feet, 
in scorn of them and rage against them ; for they are 
impatient of control and contradiction; and they will 
turn again and rend the reprovers: rend their good 
name with their revilings, return them wounding 
words for their healing ones ; rend them with perse- 
cution, as Herod did John the Baptist for his faithful- 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 189 

ness." {Matthew Henry.) And here we would re- 
mark, that when we look upon the limitations thrown 
around the exercise of reproving, there should be but 
little of it; 1st. In regard to those who reprove, since 
none but the delegates of God can claim the privi- 
lege, and that only in their official capacity : 2d. In 
regard to the reproved, how large a portion of man- 
kind belong to the two classes, which are exempt 
from rebuke because of the vileness of their charac- 
ters. It seems that with these restrictions, reproving 
must be confined chiefly to Christians themselves. 
The erring brother may be "restored" not slandered, 
not reviled, and it must be done only by the " spirit- 
ual" and "in the spirit of meekness." If a brother 
wrong us, we may tell him of his fault privately, not 
reprove him for it, still less reprove him publicly. If 
he will not hear us, we may take with us one or two 
more to establish the truth of our statement. And if 
he still remain obdurate, we may then refer the mat- 
ter to the church, the delegate of God. Matt, xviii. 

ENCOURAGEMENTS TO PRAYER. 

" Ask, and it shall be given you ; seek, and ye 
shall find ; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. 
For every one that asketh receiveth ; and he that 
seeketh findeth ; and to him that knocketh it shall be 
opened." (Verses 7, 8.) 

Asking implies want. We are "wretched and 
miserable, and poor and blind and naked." We need 
"gold tried in the fire," even enduring riches that 
17* 



190 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

will last when the world is in flames ; we need 
"the white raiment" of Jesus' perfect righteousness, 
that "the shame of our nakedness do not appear;" 
we need the anointing of the Spirit, that we " may 
see" things in their true value, in the light of eter- 
nity. We want pardon, we want joy in the Holy 
Ghost, we want sanctification of the Spirit. 

Seeking implies loss. We have lost the favour of 
God, we have lost our title to heaven, we have lost 
the approbation of a good conscience. 

Knocking implies an earnest desire to find shelter 
within the sanctuary of mercy, from the fury of 
the storm without. The cloud that drives to this 
refuge, however black it may seem, is still the mes- 
senger of a God of mercy. 

But there is far more implied in these three impe- 
ratives, than all this. The primary signification, as 
we understand it, is, ask imploringly for the way of 
life, diligently seek it, and knock earnestly at the 
door, even Christ Jesus, that leads into it. And the 
promise annexed is, that the inquirer shall receive the 
necessary information ; the diligent seeker shall find 
it; and the earnest knocker shall be admitted into it. 
The first act of the awakened sinner is one of inquiry. 
"Men and brethren, what shall we do?" was the 
anxious inquiry of the three thousand, who were 
pricked to the heart on the day of Pentecost. "Lord, 
what wilt thou have me to do," asked poor Saul in 
his amazement and distress, as he lay stretched on 
the ground, with the bright light shining about him. 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 191 

" Sirs, what must I do to be saved ?" inquired the 
trembling jailer of Paul and Silas. Bunyan, in bis 
inimitable allegory, has most happily explained the 
meaning of asking, seeking, and knocking. He saw- 
in his dream, the man clothed in rags, with the great 
burden on his back, "looking this way and that way 
as if he would run, yet he stood still, because he 
could not tell which way to go." And he heard this 
distressed man crying "what shall I do?" Then 
Evangelist came to him and asked him, "why stand- 
est thou still?" He answered, "because I know not 
whither to go." Upon this, Evangelist "gave him a 
parchment roll; and there was written within, 'flee 
from the wrath to come.' The man therefore read it, 
and looking upon it very carefully, said, ' whither 
must I flee ?' Then said Evangelist, pointing with 
his finger over a very wide field, ' do you see yonder 
wicket-gate?' He said, 'No.' Then said the other, 
1 do you see yonder shining light?' He said, 'I think 
I do.' Then said Evangelist, ' Keep that light in 
your eye, and go up directly thereto, so shalt thou 
see the gate ; at which, when thou knockest, it shall 
be told thee what to do.' So I saw in my dream, 

that the man began to run So in process of 

time, Christian got up to the gate. Now over the 
gate was written, ' Knock, and it shall be opened un- 
to you.' " Here we have the inquiry, the seeking, 
and the knocking. The wicket-gate represents the 
Redeemer. He says of himself, "I am the door: by 
me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall 



192 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

go in and out, and find pasture," John x. 9. And 
Paul, speaking of him, says: "For through him we 
both have access by one Spirit unto the Father," 
Ephes. ii. 18. " He that entereth not by the door 
into the sheep-fold, but climbeth up some other way, 
the same is a thief and a robber." There is no access 
to God, but by Jesus Christ. To all, who have not 
passed through this door of hope, the dreadful Jeho- 
vah is and must be, a consuming fire. What loveli- 
ness can his pure and holy eyes see in a sin-polluted 
wretch? "How should man be just with God? If 
he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one 
of a thousand." If "our righteousnesses are but 
filthy rags" in his sight, how must our sins and 
abominations appear! 

But all who enter into the sheep-fold by the door, 
are safe from the fierce indignation of an offended 
God. They belong to the "Good Shepherd, who 
giveth his life for the sheep," and the "Father him- 
self loveth them," because of his love for the Good 
Shepherd. 

Our Saviour then employs these three imperatives, 
because they express the highest office of prayer: 
the taking up of the sinner in his rags and filth with 
the great burden on his back, pointing him to the 
open door, helping him to seek it by the light of 
God's truth, and enabling him to knock at it, and go 
in and sup with the Lord of the mansion. However, 
as the address is to disciples, there is a subordinate 
sense, in which, ask, seek, and knock is used, and one 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 193 

in harmony with the preceding verses. With the sixth 
verse ends all that is said, directly, of the practical 
errors of the Scribes and Pharisees. Our Saviour 
had exposed the errors, which these sects taught with 
their lips and exemplified in their lives. He had 
shown their religion to be hollow, formal, hypocriti- 
cal, devoid of life-giving power and energy. He had 
declared that the religion of his followers must far 
exceed theirs ; it must be sincere, earnest, embracing 
the inner worship of the heart, forbidding every 
angry emotion, every impure thought, every improper 
word, every worldly desire, every ostentatious act, 
every harsh opinion, every malevolent wish. We can 
imagine that the hearts of the disciples sank more 
and more within them, as their Master unfolded his 
moral system, in all its severe beauty, unbending in- 
tegrity, and matchless purity ; until they were ready 
to exclaim, " Lord, we are of unclean lips, and dwell 
in the midst of a people of unclean lips, and thou 
requirest of us the holiness of angels around the 
throne." When thus shut up to feel their utter help- 
lessness, their entire inability to comply with the 
requisitions of this perfect code, they are then shown 
that their "sufficiency must be of God;" that his 
strength is made perfect in their weakness, and their 
weakness made perfect in his strength. They are 
taught to ask, to seek, and to knock for the grace 
that shall be sufficient for them. And the word of a 
(.ioil of truth is pledged, that the effort shall not be in 
vain. " For every one that asketh, receiveth ; and 



194 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, 
it shall be opened." The repetition of the promise 
in the 8th verse gives, as it were, a double guaranty 
on the part of God, that believing prayer shall not 
be offered in vain. So that if we do not come up to 
the high standard of duty prescribed, we are left 
wholly without excuse. We fail in duty, simply be- 
cause we fail in prayer. God has promised all needed 
grace, if we perform all needed prayer. The absence 
of sufficient grace proves then the absence of suffi- 
cient prayer. It is no answer, to say that no mere 
man has ever been free of malevolence, carnal emo- 
tions, worldly-mindedness, uncharitable thoughts, &c» 
That is true, but are we excusable because we are 
sinful ? Is our want of freedom from corruption the 
result of God's unfaithfulness to his promise of hear- 
ing prayer, or of our unfaithfulness in prayer ? Let 
God be true and every man a liar. The fault is in 
ourselves, and that we may be the better able to see 
exactly where it lies, we will examine the next three 
verses, which not only contain encouragement to 
prayer, but also most beautifully explain the spirit 
and nature of prayer. 

"Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask 
bread, will he give him a stone ? Or if he ask a fish, 
will he give him a serpent ? If ye then being evil 
know how to give good gifts unto your children, how 
much more shall your Father which is in heaven give 
good things to them that ask him?" (Verses 9-11.) 

Prayer is here likened to the asking for food, by 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 195 

children of a tender parent. This expresses exactly 
its nature and spirit. In its nature, it is simply an 
asking, not an eloquent address, and may be ex- 
pressed as effectually by a look, as by the most elabo- 
rate appeal. Its spirit must be that of a child asking 
for food. Want must prompt the petition, humility 
must clothe it, and a child-like confidence must be 
felt that it will be heard. These are the three ele- 
ments that make the asking of the child effectual ; 
these are the three elements that make prayer to God 
effectual. The pleading of want, humility, and faith 
was never made in vain. An evil parent cannot re- 
sist them in his child. A holy God will not resist 
them in his creature. He may not answer the prayer 
in the way that the creature expected, but he will 
answer it in a better way. The parent may not give 
his hungry child exactly the kind of food that he 
asks for, but he will not give him a useless stone, 
still less will he give him a noxious serpent. In his 
superior wisdom, the parent may see that the food 
craved is not healthy, is not suitable for his son. He 
will not leave his child to the pangs of hunger, but 
he will " feed him with food convenient for him." 
He will give him that which is more nourishing and 
more appropriate. And thus it is with God. He 
may not answer the humble, child-like prayer, in the 
manner prayed for, but he has not turned a deaf ear 
to it. In our sin-blinded condition we cannot pray, 
we cannot even " order our conversation aright by 
reason of darkness." What we greatly desire, as a 



196 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

blessing, might prove a fearful curse. And vrfiat we 
most dread, may prove a great blessing. "For who 
knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the 
days of his vain life, which he spendeth as a shadow?" 
Let us then perform the duty of prayer, and leave 
the mode of its answer, entirely, to the only wise 
God. He did not answer Paul, when he besought him 
thrice to take away the thorn in the flesh. The thorn 
was needful to keep Paul from self-elation, at the 
abundance of his revelations. He was not answered 
in his own way, but he was answered in God's way, 
which was infinitely better. And so Paul felt and 
exclaimed, when he perceived God's better way, 
"Therefore will I glory in my infirmities." The 
Lord did not answer the prayer of Moses, when he 
asked to be blotted out of God's book, if the Israel- 
ites were blotted out. He was not answered accord- 
ing to his folly, for it would have been inconsistent 
with the justice of God to grant his request. " And 
the Lord said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned 
against me, him will I blot out of my book. There- 
fore now go, lead the people unto the place of which 
I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine angel shall 
go before thee : nevertheless, in the day when I visit, 
I will visit their sin upon them." Exod. xxxii. 33, 34. 
The answer that Moses received was infinitely better 
than what he sought. It was consistent with the jus- 
tice of God, full of mercy to himself and of encour- 
agement to persevere in the path of duty. The 
promise to Moses is similar to that to Paul. The 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 197 

Angel of the Covenant was to sustain the one, and 
the grace of the Lord, the other. David was not 
answered in his own way, when he asked for the life 
of his child. But the refusal heightened his convic- 
tion of sin, showed him the enormity of the act that 
he had committed, and it is probable, prompted that 
penitential psalm, which has brought thousands and 
tens of thousands to the feet of Jesus. The prayer 
was answered in God's better way, and so David 
doubtless felt when he said : " It is good for me that 
I have been afflicted." 

Many a parent, like David, has poured out his soul 
in agony unutterable for the life of his child, and yet 
death came. It may be that the child, if spared, 
would have dishonoured God and ruined his own soul. 
It may be that the parent himself needed the punish- 
ment; needed to be pruned, that he might bear more 
fruit. It may be that love for the child concealed and 
covered up the love for God. It was necessary, then, 
to remove the creature that the Creator might be all 
in all. The lamps in the hands of Gideon's warriors 
did not shine out until the pitchers were broken, and 
the trumpets were sounding for battle. The light of 
Christian character is often obscured, until the frail 
earthen vase that conceals it is shivered to pieces, and 
God sounds the signal for conflict with sorrow and 
anguish. 

Let us, then, learn to let God answer our prayers 
in his own way, assured that that way is best for his 
own glory and our happiness. And so all our prayers 
18 



198 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

that relate to mere temporal well-being should be 
conditional. "Father, if it be thy will, let this cup 
of suffering pass; nevertheless, not my will, but thine 
be done." "Father, if it be thy will, grant me this 
blessing ; nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done." 
Hezekiah prayed unconditionally for life. This prayer 
was granted, and he lived to dishonour God, and bring 
ruin on his family and nation. The king of Babylon 
sent messengers to congratulate him on his recovery 
from sickness, and in the pride of his heart he showed 
them all his treasures. And then Isaiah came unto 
him, with a message from the Lord. "Behold, the 
days come, that all that is in thine house, and that 
which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, 
shall be carried to Babylon ; nothing shall be left, 
saith the Lord. And of thy sons that shall issue from 
thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away ; 
and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king 
of Babylon." Isa. xxxix. 6, 7. Here the connection 
is obvious, between the answer to his prayer and his 
sin, with its subsequent punishment. The lesson 
thus taught, should be remembered by all, and sup- 
posed blessings be prayed for, if consistent with God's 
glory and our highest interests. Things which are 
not revealed to us as the proper objects of prayer, 
should never be prayed for, without annexing the 
condition, that His will, and not ours, be done. 
Life, health, reputation, property, children, friends, 
all temporal things, should be committed unto Him 
as unto a faithful Creator. Prayer, in reference to 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 199 

these objects, should always be conditional. But as 
St. Luke explains "the good things," spoken of in 
the 11th verse, to be the gift of the Spirit, (Luke xi. 
13,) we may ask unconditionally for His holy in- 
fluences. God is ever more ready to grant his Spirit 
than we are to ask honestly and sincerely for his 
blessed presence. The prayer for the Spirit cannot be 
offered too often, too importunately, and too earnestly; 
nor yet too absolutely and unconditionally. It is the 
work of that holy Being to draw us to Christ, and 
enable us to close in with the offer of salvation. It is 
his work to change the heart, to renew the will, to 
sanctify our affections, and fit us for a residence with 
God and holy beings. All acceptable prayer must 
be dictated by him. The very first breathing of the 
soul should be for his sanctifying influences, that the 
petition may be aright. The earth lay without form, 
a dark chaotic void, until the Spirit of God moved 
upon the waters. All right desires lie hidden in the 
soul — crude, shapeless, dead — until the Spirit brood 
over them and give them figure, life and activity. 
The Spirit alone can make the man, dead in trespasses 
and sins, alive in Christ Jesus. The slain, in the 
valley of dry bones, could not live, until the breath 
came from the four winds to breathe upon them. 
Ezek. xxxvii. 9. Though Christ has been offered up 
as a sacrifice for sin, no man ever yet was willing to 
receive him as a Saviour, until drawn unto him by 
the third person of the Holy Trinity. Nor would 
the pleadings of any man ever find favour with a 



200 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

Holy God, but for the intercession of the Spirit, 
" with groanings that cannot be uttered." 

How cheering and comforting it is to know that 
God is more ready to send this renewing, sanctifying, 
interceding Spirit, than parents are to give good things 
to their children. Here is the great encouragement 
to prayer — the promise of the Spirit. We are dark, 
ignorant, short-sighted, and know not how to frame 
our petitions aright. He has all wisdom, and will 
enlighten our understandings. Our hearts are cold 
and dead, but he will give them warmth and life. 
God, because of our sins, "has covered himself with a 
thick cloud, that our prayer should not pass through." 
But when his Spirit has enabled us to believe on his 
Son, he will say: "I have blotted out, as a thick 
cloud, thy transgressions, and as a cloud, thy sins ; 
return unto me, for I have redeemed thee." Our 
"prayer will then be unto thee, Lord, in an ac- 
ceptable time;" "and God, even our own God, shall 
bless us." 

Our confidence, then, in the answer to prayer for 
right things, and offered in the right manner, may be 
drawn from this promise of the Spirit. The greater 
gift includes the smaller. If God will send the Sanc- 
tifier and Comforter to renew and purify, to cheer 
and console, how much more will he give all needed 
blessings of an inferior nature to those who ask in the 
name of Christ. " Ye have not chosen me, but I have 
chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and 
bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain ; 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 201 

that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my 
name, he may give it." Our blessed Redeemer had 
first promised the Comforter, and then the inferior 
blessing of granting whatsoever was asked in his 
name. The reason for the promise is given in the 
very words which convey it, " That ye may go and 
bring forth fruit." This is the great end of the pro- 
mise. The Spirit is given in order that God may be 
glorified by the good works of his sanctified children. 
Here, then, we have full, complete encouragement to 
prayer, resting first on the promise of the Spirit; and 
that again resting upon God's desire for his own glory. 
Nothing more can be added to this — nothing more is 
needed. 

We will next consider some species of so called 
prayer, which are not acceptable, and which are 
therefore not answered. 

UNANSWERED PRAYER. 

Of this sort of prayer we make the following 
classification. 

1st. Uncandid Prayer. "If I regard iniquity in 
my heart, the Lord will not hear me," said the in- 
spired Psalmist. God will not be mocked. It is in vain 
to ask him for a clean heart and a renewed will, if we 
ask with the secret purpose of continuing in known 
sin. We are but attempting to deceive the Searcher 
of hearts and Trier of the reins. He " understands 
our thoughts afar off," and "there is not a word in 
our tongues, but lo, Lord, thou knowest it alto- 
18* 



202 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

gether." Hollow professions do not often deceive 
men ; but they excite the wrath of Him, who " know- 
eth us altogether." He will not answer the prayer 
for personal holiness, where there is the unavowed 
intention in the heart to cling to some darling sin. 
To pray for the advance of Christ's kingdom, and 
then to bring reproach upon his name by an unholy 
life, is to play the part of Judas. It is betraying our 
Master with a kiss of professed friendship and love. 
But to pray, for the advance of his kingdom with 
secret hatred in our hearts to his rule and dominion, 
is to play the part of the bloody wretches, who in 
Pilate's hall arrayed him in the semblance of royal 
robes, put a crown of thorns on his head and a reed- 
sceptre in his hand ; all in mockery and scorn. 
Father in Heaven, " cleanse thou us from secret 
faults," that we may not thus insult thee and mock 
thy Son. And as thou wouldest not accept from 
thine own people a sacrifice with any blemish upon 
it, we pray that thy Spirit may enable us to offer a 
pure offering, a heart untainted by any cherished 
sin. 

"A cherished corruption in the mind is the more 
likely to interpose between God and the soul, because 
it does not assume the shape and bulk of crime. A 
practical offence, the sudden effect of temptation, is 
more likely to be followed by keen repentance, deep 
self-abasement, and fervent application for pardon ; 
whereas to the close bosom-sin, knowing that no 
human charge can be brought against it, the soul 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 203 

secretly returns with a fondness facilitated by long 
indulgence." {Hannah More.) The whole drift of 
the 58th chapter of Isaiah is, that he who would 
offer acceptable prayer, must give up indulgence of 
known sin. "Ye shall not offer unto the Lord," said 
Moses, "that which is bruised, or crushed, or broken 
or cut." He will not have the oblation of a heart 
all scarred and disfigured by sin. 

But God not only will not listen to the prayer that 
the body may be made the temple of the Holy Ghost, 
when the unacknowledged resolution of the soul is to 
pollute and defile that temple by sin ; he not only 
does not listen to such prayer, he regards it with 
abhorrence. " The sacrifice of the wicked is an 
abomination to the Lord." Isaiah, in speaking of 
the assembly for prayer of those who still cling to 
their corruptions, says, "it is iniquity, even the solemn 
meeting." Hosea goes still farther, and teaches that 
vain offerings will but cause God to remember the 
iniquities of the offerers. " They sacrifice flesh for 
the sacrifices of mine offerings, and eat it ; but the 
Lord accepteth them not; now will he remember their 
iniquity and visit their sins." When an enemy 
approaches us with specious flattery, we are prone to 
recall his former acts of hostility. And thus it is 
with God ; the uncandid prayer — the prayer with the 
lips for holiness, while the heart resolves to cling to 
some cherished lust — but serves to remind Him of the 
disobedience and rebellion of the supplicant. 

2d. Prayer for improper things. 

"Ye ask and receive not," says James, "because 



204 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts." 
Pmyer for calamity upon enemies ; prayer for worldly 
power and riches, to be used against the glory of God 
and advancement of Christ's kingdom ; prayer for 
objects to gratify pride, ambition, revenge, and all 
unholy feelings, will not be heard. It is asking amiss, 
to consume upon worldly lusts. 

Prayer for improper things maybe offered both by 
the children of God and by the ungodly. When pre- 
sented by the former, God may reject it, consistently 
with his promise to be a prayer-hearing God. No 
wise parent would grant to the importunity of his 
child that which would do him harm. When presented 
by the wicked, the prayer is the preposterous demand 
of an insolent and unworthy beggar. 

The Scriptures give us some examples of prayers 
that were not granted, because the things asked for 
were improper. Moses greatly desired to be permitted 
to enter the promised land, and besought this favour 
of the Lord. But God intended the punishment of 
Moses to be a warning to his people for all time, and 
therefore replied to his prayer: "Let it suffice thee; 
speak no more unto me of this matter. Get thee up 
into the top of Pisgah, and lift up thine eyes west- 
ward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, 
and behold it with thine eyes; for thou shalt not go 
over this Jordan." Deut. iii. 26, 27. Jonah prayed 
unto God for death. But it was the prayer of petu- 
lance, impatience and mortified pride, and the Lord 
did not hear him. No child of God has a right to 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 205 

pray for death, because of the trials and difficulties 
that surround him. The Creator may use his creature 
as a buoy on a tempest-tost sea, to warn others of 
rocks and quicksands ; and the creature has no right 
to complain of the beating of the storm and the 
swelling of the waves. Elijah, in his despondency, 
as he sat under the juniper-tree in the wilderness, 
said, " It is enough, now, Lord, take away my life, 
for I am not better than my fathers." But God did 
not hear his prayer. The servant still had a great 
work to do. He had yet to anoint Hazael king of 
Syria, Jehu to be king over Israel, and Elisha to be 
a prophet in his room. 1 Kings xix. 15, 16. He bad 
yet to carry the message of God's vengeance to Ahab 
and Jezebel, for the murder of Naboth the Jezreelite ; 
he had yet to rebuke king Ahaziah, for inquiring of 
Baal-zebub instead of the Lord ; he had yet to vindi- 
cate the majesty of Heaven, by the calling down fire 
from heaven upon the two captains of Ahaziah, with 
their companies of fifty; and finally, instead of leav- 
ing his body in the wilderness, a prey to beasts and 
birds, he had yet to ascend in a chariot of fire to the 
God whom he had served. 

The disciples, James and John, were not heard, 
when they asked their Master to be placed, the one 
on the right hand and the other on the left, in his 
glory. It was an ambitious petition — a request for 
worldly distinction ; and our Saviour taught them that 
they who would be great among them, must be their 
servant. And when these same disciples prayed for 



206 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

permission to bring down fire from heaven upon a 
village of the Samaritans, they met with a stern rebuke 
instead of an answer to their request. " But he turned 
and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner 
of spirit ye are of; for the Son of Man is not come 
to destroy men's lives, but to save them." 

3d. Spasmodic prayer. 

The irregular, fitful devotion that manifests itself 
only in seasons of alarm, distress or calamity, has no 
claim upon an answer from God: "But ye have set 
at naught all my counsel, and would none of my re- 
proof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock 
when your fear cometh." Prov. i. 25, 26. "There- 
fore it is come to pass, that, as he cried, and they 
would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, 
saith the Lord of hosts." Zech. vii. 13. " Thus saith 
the Lord unto this people, Thus have they loved to 
wander, they have not refrained their feet ; therefore 
the Lord doth not accept them. When they fast, I will 
not hear their cry." Jer. xiv. 10-12. " They are 
turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, 

which refused to hear my words therefore, thus 

saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, 
which they shall not be able to escape ; and though 
they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them." 
Jer. xi. 10-12. 

God is surely under no sort of obligation to attend 
to the cry of those who only approach him when in 
trouble. He may hear them out of the abundance of 
his mercy and compassion, but not because of the 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 207 

obligation of his promise to hear prayer. The most 
tender parent may refuse a boon to a child, who only 
shows affection when he wants to use his father as a 
convenience. 

This spasmodic prayer is in direct conflict with the 
teachings of God's holy word. He will have his 
children to cultivate a spirit of habitual prayer. 
" Watch ye, therefore, and pray ahvays, that ye may 
be accounted worthy to escape all those things that 
shall come to pass." Luke xxi. 86. " Continuing 
instant in prayer." Rom. xii. 12. "Be careful for 
nothing ; but in every thing, by prayer and supplica- 
tion, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made 
known unto God." Phil. iv. 6. "Pray without ceas- 
ing." 1 Thess. v. 17. "Night and day, praying 
exceedingly." 1 Thess. iii. 10. "And he spake a 
parable unto them to this end, that men ought always 
to pray, and not to faint." Luke xviii. 1. David could 
say, " Seven times a day do I praise thee, because of 
thy righteous judgments." Seven was a perfect num- 
ber with the Hebrews, and is often taken to signify 
an infinite quantity. The Psalmist most probably 
meant that he was ever in a praying frame of mind. 
This is just the spirit to be cultivated by every sincere 
Christian. Under the Mosaic dispensation, the fire 
which descended from heaven at the dedication of the 
tabernacle, was sacredly preserved and never suffered 
to go out. In like manner, the flame of devotion 
should never be allowed to flicker and grow dim in the 
heart of the true disciple of the Lord Jesus. 



208 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

4th. Prayer without faith. 

"All things whatsoever," said our Saviour, "ye 
shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." 
Again : " What things soever ye desire when ye pray, 
believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." 
Mark xi. 24. Again : " If ye had faith as a grain of 
mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine-tree, 
be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted 
in the sea, and it should obey you." Luke xvii. 6. 
Such are the promises to the prayer of faith ; and the 
fulness of the answer is ever measured by the propor- 
tion of faith in the offerer of the prayer. " Go thy 
way, and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee." 
Matt. viii. 13. " Daughter, be of good comfort ; thy 
faith has made thee whole." Matt. ix. 22. "Be not 
afraid, only believe," was the language to the poor 
bereaved ruler of the synagogue. When the father 
brought the child afflicted with the dumb spirit, 
"Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things 
are possible to him that believeth." Mark ix. 23. 
The persevering, believing woman of Canaan, was com- 
mended thus : " woman, great is thy faith ; be it 
unto thee even as thou wilt." Matt. xv. 28. The 
two blind men were to be wholly or partially restored 
to sight, or not restoredat all, according as they fully 
or partially believed, or utterly disbelieved. " Then 
touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith 
be it unto you." Matt. ix. 29. " If any of you lack 
wisdom," says James, "let him ask of God, and it 
shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 209 

wavering; for he that wavereth, is like a wave of the 
sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not 
that man think that he shall receive any thing of the 
Lord." James i. 6, 7. John explains the ground of 
faith in prayer, and at the same time the proper 
objects of faith : " And this is the confidence that we 
have in him, that if we ask any thing according to his 
will, he heareth us; and if we know that he hear us, 
whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions 
that we desired of him." 1 John v. 14, 15. The pro- 
mise of God constitutes, then, the ground of faith ; 
and the things promised are those upon which faith, 
can most surely be exercised. David made God's 
promise to establish his house, a motive to plead with 
God to do as he had said. 2 Sam. vii. 16-25. God 
had said, "I will send rain upon the earth;" yet 
Elijah must pray, and with great earnestness and per- 
severance, too, for what God had promised. 1 Kings 
xviii. 42-44. When Daniel knew that the seventy 
years of captivity were expiring, then he set his 
face to seek by prayers the promised deliverance. 
Dan. ix. 2, 3. When our Lord had promised the gift 
of the Holy Spirit, the disciples continued in prayer 
and supplication till the fulfilment of the promise. 
Acts i. 14. (Mine Explored.) If Christians of the 
present day would but exercise the same faith in the 
promise, that " The kingdoms of this world are to be- 
come the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ;" 
and if they would but offer earnest, persevering prayer 
for its fulfilment, the Spirit of God would be poured 
19 



210 CONSIDERATION OP THE 

out yet more abundantly upon our land and the whole 
earth. God's arm is not shortened, but limitations 
are continually put upon the exercise of his gracious 
power by the weakness of faith of his own people. 
They can pray with some sort of confidence for the 
conversion of a few ; but their belief is not strong 
enough to embrace great multitudes. Even Moses, 
who had witnessed so many mighty wonders at the 
hands of God, could not believe that the Omnipotent 
could feed six hundred thousand footmen with flesh 
for a whole month. " Shall the flocks and herds be 
slain for them, to suffice them ? or shall the fish of the 
sea be gathered together for them, to suffice them ? 
And the Lord said unto Moses, Is the Lord's hand 
waxed short? thou shalt see now whether my word 
shall come to pass unto thee or not." If the faith of 
God's people were but strong enough and enlarged 
enough, more than six hundred thousand would be 
fed with "bread from heaven;" more than six hun- 
dred thousand would be fed with that "flesh" which 
"is meat, indeed." May the Redeemer grant his 
followers more faith, so that they may not be ob- 
stacles in the way of the chariots of salvation. 

CRITICAL EXAMINATION. 

A more minute inspection of the first eleven verses 
of the seventh chapter, may be profitable. The 
word rendered "judge" in the first verse, is often used 
in the sense of condemn. (Olshausen.) This is obvi- 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 211 

ously the meaning here, since in the parallel passage, 
Luke vi. 37, we have "judge not and ye shall not be 
judged, condemn not and ye shall not be condemned." 
The apposition of the words "judge " and "condemn," 
shows that unfavourable judgment is meant. And here 
we would remark, that the verse in Luke affords no 
comfort to moralists, who think that their professed 
charity and universal toleration of all creeds and sects 
constitute a sure hope of salvation. Do these pseudo- 
philanthropists judge favourably of Christ and the 
claims of his gospel ? Are they willing to " have this 
man rule over them?" If they reject his easy reign 
and judge him harshly, can they complain of being 
rejected by him and condemned in the great day of 
Judgment? 

The word rendered "mote" in the 3d, 4th and 5th 
verses, may also be rendered splinter, paring or 
peeling. The splinter from the beam is in contrast 
with the whole beam. 

In the 8th verse, we have a remarkable transition 
from the present tense to the second future passive. 
"Every one asking, receiveth, and seeking, findeth, 
and knocking, shall have it opened unto him." There 
is no promise here of an instantaneous opening of 
the door of mercy. This delay in accepting the 
sinner may be to try his faith, as in the case of the 
Syrophenician woman ; or to test his sincerity, as in 
the case of the Scribe, who said, "Master, I will 
follow thee, whithersoever thou goest." But whatever 
the reason may be, the fact is certain that many are 



212 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

kept waiting long at the* very threshold, and alas! 
many like the rich young man, whom Jesus loved, 
turn away sorrowing, when "not far from the king- 
dom of God." 

In the 11th verse, the word rendered "heaven" is 
in the plural. The God of the universe, and not the 
believer's Father, is, as we understand it, the Being 
here alluded to. If so, the "ye" refers to the 
natural and not to the renewed condition of the 
disciples. The universal depravity of man is not 
taught as something new, but recognized as an 
acknowledged truth. "All we, like sheep, have gone 
astray ; we have turned every one to his own way ; 
and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." 
"I have gone astray, like a lost sheep," said the man 
after God's own heart. " There is none righteous, 
no, not one. There is none that understandeth, 
there is none that seeketh after God." But the 
"being evil" may justly apply to regenerate men. 
Every child of God, who knows his own heart, must 
feel with good Bishop Beveridge, that his "very tears 
of repentance need to be washed in the blood of 
Christ." The Bible gives us an account of but one 
sinless man — the man of Calvary. And it is remark- 
able, that it tells us of holy men committing those 
very sins and follies which they seemed least likely to 
commit. Moses, who was "very meek above all the 
men which were upon the face of the earth," became 
very angry and "spake unadvisedly with his lips." 
We have all heard of the "patience of Job," and also 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 213 

of his petulance and fretfulness. The pure-hearted 
David committed adultery. Solomon "passed all 
the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom," yet 
even he became foolish and "and loved many strange 
women." The gentle, loving and lovable John, on a 
certain occasion, showed the most vindictive hate 
against a village of the Samaritans, and wished to 
call down fire from heaven to consume it. The bold, 
sturdy Peter trembled before a servant-maid, and lied 
in his fright, to escape from an imaginary danger. 
Paul was humble enough to call himself the chief of 
sinners, and "least of all the apostles, not meet to 
be called an apostle," "less than the least of all 
saints ;" and yet Paul had given to him, "a thorn in 
the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet him," lest 
he should be filled with pride and self-conceit. 

THE GOLDEN RULE. 

" Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that 
men should do to you, do ye even so to them ; for 
this is the law and the prophets." (Verse 12.) 

The critics are greatly divided in opinion, as to the 
manner in which this verse is connected with what 
goes before. The adverb "therefore" points back- 
ward and plainly implies dependence. In this all ex- 
positors agree. But they differ in their modes of 
establishing the connection, and we confess that we 
are not satisfied with any of these methods. We 
suggest with unfeigned diffidence, a different explana- 
19* 



214 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

tion from any given by the orthodox commentators. 
The first five verses contain a rule in regard to 
reproving ; the sixth verse shows the impropriety of 
indiscriminate rebukes; the next five verses are 
parenthetical, and might be omitted without breaking 
the chain of thought. They are simply explanatory 
of the manner in which grace may be obtained for 
the exercise of the high spiritual religion enjoined by 
the Son of God. The 12th verse is, then, we think, 
linked with the first five, " Judge not, that ye be not 
judged, &c. For with what judgment ye judge, ye 
shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it 
shall be measured to you again. Therefore all things 
whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do 
ye even so to them." The golden rule then shows 
the way of escape from the terrible retribution of 
God upon those who wrong their fellow-creatures. 
And it is in beautiful harmony with the five paren- 
thetical verses. They give directions and encourage- 
ments for the attainment of the grace necessary for 
the practice of the rule. The whole twelve verses 
are thus linked and interlinked indissolubly with each 
other. There is moreover a close connection between 
the 12th verse and the 11th. We have an argument 
for prayer in the 11th verse, drawn from the parental 
relation. As parents put themselves in the places of 
their children, in order to enter into their sufferings 
and necessities ; so "God was manifest in the flesh," 
in order to understand our trials, temptations and in- 
firmities. " For we have not an High Priest which 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 215 

cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities ; 
but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without 
sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of 
grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to 
help in time of need." Heb. iv. 15, 16. Here Paul 
derives his argument for prayer, (in the same manner 
that his Master had done,) from the fact that God 
had put himself in our room, so that he might be 
" touched with the feeling of our infirmities." This 
is a favourite argument with Paul, the man of prayer. 
He doubtless often strengthened his own faith with 
it and is therefore fond of repeating it. " Where- 
fore in all things it behoved him to be made like 
unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and 
faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to 
make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For 
in that he himself hath suffered, being tempted, he is 
able to succour them that are tempted." Heb. ii. 17, 
18. Here Paul attributes the mercy and compassion 
of the Saviour towards us, to the fact that he bore 
our nature and endured suffering and temptation in 
it. The 12th verse under consideration enjoins us to 
do just as Christ has done ; to put ourselves in the 
places of others ; to enter fully into their trials and 
difficulties, their wants and sufferings, and thus be 
able to adapt our conduct to their condition. 

We will briefly recapitulate our views in regard to 
the connection between the first twelve verses. We 
understand the golden rule of our Saviour to stand 
in opposition to the rule of the world, as shown in 



216 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

the first five verses. And it finds its sanction in the 
conduct of God himself, as exhibited in the 11th 
verse. 

A few words, in explanation of the golden rule, 
may not be out of place. It is, of course, not to be 
construed literally; if the previous views be correct. 
The judge is not bound to acquit the guilty criminal, 
because if he himself were at the bar instead of on 
the bench, he would wish to be acquitted. This 
would be subversive of justice and destructive of the 
highest interests of society. Our Saviour has him- 
self placed the proper limitation on the exercise of 
the golden rule, in declaring it to be the substance 
of " the law and the prophets." He virtually declares 
any conduct inconsistent with " the law and the 
prophets," to be also inconsistent with the rule. 
Thus the rich are not bound to give all their wealth 
to the poor, though, if their situations were exchanged, 
they might desire this wealth. This would destroy 
the right of property, which is recognized by " the 
law and the prophets." And so hundreds of similar 
cases might be given, showing the limitations on the 
exercise of the rule of "doing as you would be done 
by." We understand then, this precept of our 
Saviour to amount simply to this: We are, in our 
dealings with others, to imagine ourselves in their 
situation, and the conduct that would be agreeable to 
us in this altered condition, and at the same time 
consistent with reason, justice, "the law and the 
prophets," we must honestly and conscientiously prac- 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 217 

tise towards them. The golden rule is a part of the 
law of God, engraven so deeply on the human heart, 
that sin and Satan have not been able entirely to 
efface it. For it has been found in some form among 
almost all the nations of the earth. Alexander Sev- 
erus, a Roman Emperor, who had received it from the 
Christians, was so much pleased with the golden rule 
as to write it on the walls of his chamber. Surely, 
it ought to be as cordially approved, even by nominal 
Christians, as by a heathen. And it is plain that if 
men faithfully obeyed this noble precept, there would 
be no fraud, no false measures, no slander, no back- 
biting, no tyranny, no oppression, no wrangling, no 
law-suits, no wars and no bloodshed. But the 
golden rule will not be universally complied with, 
until " the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the 
Lord, as the waters cover the sea." 



THE STRAIT GATE. 

"Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the 
gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruc- 
tion, and many there be which go in thereat; because 
strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which 
leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." 
(Verses 13, 14.) 

Neander regards these two verses as cautionary, 
and intended to guard the disciples from the delusion 
of hoping to get to heaven in any other way than 
through the strait gate and narrow road of self-denial 



218 CONSIDERATION OP THE 

and self-sacrifice. He says, " Christ had pointed out 
the moral requisites for entrance into his kingdom, 
and the moral qualities which must mark its members. 
He now warns them (vs. 13, 14) against the delusion 
of expecting its blessings in any easier way than that 
he had pointed out, and also against the delusion of 
hoping to avoid struggle and self-denial." {Life of 
Christ.) Dr. Brown regards the verses as containing 
a detached exhortation, and not connected directly 
with the preceding paragraph. He says, " To enter 
in at the strait gate, is to embrace those views of truth, 
and duty, and happiness, which our Lord unfolds, and 
of which we have an admirable specimen in this dis- 
course; and to walk in the narrow way, is habitually 
to regulate our temper and conduct by those views." 
(Brown's Exposition.) Adam Clarke sees a direct 
connection between the 13th and 14th verses and the 
12th verse. His language is, " Enter in (to the king- 
dom of heaven) through this strait gate, i. e., of doing 
to every one as you would that he should do unto 
you ; for this alone seems to be the strait gate our 
Lord alludes to." 

A similar view is entertained by Olshausen. He 
says, " From what has been said, follows in a natural 
and unforced connection, the difficulty of walking in 
the path of self-denying love, which is represented 
under the figure of a narrow way, leading through 
a strait gate into the fortress of everlasting life." 
(Olshausen on the Gospels.) Scott and Henry seem 
to see no dependence of the verses under consideration 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 219 

upon any thing that goes before them. And we think 
it is common, both in written and oral comments upon 
them, to regard them as unconnected with any other 
part of the discourse. But amidst the various inter- 
pretations that have been given, there has been sub- 
stantial agreement. The great truths of the text are 
too plain to be misunderstood. All expositors agree 
that the strait gate (or contracted gate, as the word 
means,) opens into the narrow way — the Christian's 
pathway to the skies ; and that in all ages of the 
world there have been but few to tread this confined 
road. 

"Broad is the road that leads to death, 
And thousands walk together there ; 
But wisdom shows a narrower path, 
With here and there a traveller." 

The point of difference, between commentators, is 
in regard to the dependence of the 13th and 14th 
verses upon the context. The view of Brown of Had- 
dington, seems to us the true one. " Christ and 
the work of regeneration, and faith by union with 
him, are a strait gate, by which we must strive to 
enter in ; by this alone we enter into a new covenant 
state of grace and glory ; nor can we enter it with one 
reigning lust." Luke xiii. 23; Isa. liv. 12. Christ 
is also "the way, the truth and the life;" and it is 
only by being conformed to him, united to him, and 
identified with him, that any man can walk in the 
narrow way that leadeth unto life. This road is 



220 



CONSIDERATION OF THE 



strait, not in itself, but because of sin. The snares 
of the adversary of souls, the corruptions of our 
nature, and the allurements of the world, hedge it 
about, press down upon it, and thus make it narrow 
and contracted. To sinless beings it would be an 
exceeding broad and pleasant road. And this explains 
the apparent discrepancies in the teachings of the 
Bible, in regard to the holy walk. " My yoke is easy 
and my burden is light," says the Son of God. But 
the same holy Being again says: " Strait is the gate 
and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life." On 
the other hand, we hear, "Happy is the man that 
findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understand- 
ing; her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her 
paths are peace.'" But once more — " He that loveth 
father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me; 
and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is 
not worthy of me ; and he that taketh not his cross 
and followeth after me, is not worthy of me." And 
we are told that on one occasion the requirements of 
the gospel dispensation were so strict, that the Apostles 
cried out, "Lord, increase our faith;" and that on 
another, many of his disciples said, " This is a hard 
saying; who can hear it?" The whole difficulty, we 
see, lies in the want of faith, and in the indwelling 
power of sin. These make the yoke galling and the 
burden heavy ; these make the " ways of pleasantness 
and the paths of peace," ways of straitness and sorrow, 
and paths of conflict and strife. "Ye are not strait- 
ened in me, but straitened in your own bowels," said 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 221 

Paul to the Corinthians. That is, the want of sym- 
pathy between us is not from lack of affection in me 
towards you, but it is owing to your indifference to 
me. And thus, we are not straitened in Christ, but 
in our sinful and depraved natures. " Behold, the 
Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; 
neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear ; but your 
iniquities have separated between you and your God, 
and your sins have hid his face from you, that he 
will not hear." Isa. lix. 1,2. And just as our iniquities 
seem to shorten the arm of God, so that it cannot 
save, do they seem to choke up the pathway to the 
skies, and make it narrow and difficult to be travelled. 
And these too require it to be straight as well as narrow. 
So great is the proneness of our fallen nature, even in 
its renewed state, to wander out off this straight road, 
that the slightest deviation to the right or to the left 
will lead far off from the celestial city. Christian and 
Hopeful, in the Pilgrim's Progress, fell into the power 
of Giant Despair, and were shut up in Doubting 
Castle, when they thought to stray but a little way 
from the straight and narrow path. "Now the way 
from the river was rough, and their feet were tender 
by reason of their travels ; so the souls of the pilgrims 
were much discouraged because of the way. Where- 
fore, still as they went on, they wished for a better 
way. Now, a little before them there was, on the left 
hand of the road, a meadow, and a stile to go over 
into it ; and that meadow is called By-path Meadow. 
1 Then,' said Christian, ' if this meadow lieth along by 
20 



222 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

our wayside, let us go over into it.' But this way 
that seemed to lie almost parallel with the straight road, 
led them farther and farther off, amidst pitfalls and 
perilous floods, until they found themselves in a very 
dark dungeon, nasty and stinking to the spirits of 
these men." {John Bunyan.) Hence the Scriptures 
warn us against making the slightest deflection from 
the straight way that leads to life. " Let thine eyes 
look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before 
thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy 
ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor 
to the left; remove thy foot from evil." Prov. iv. 
25-27. And thus we see that keeping in the pathway 
is necessary to keeping from evil ; and this necessity 
is founded upon the depravity of our natures ; our 
sins make the path of life both narrow and straight. It 
may be that sinless creatures, from other worlds, may 
be permitted, in their journey to their Father's man- 
sion, to wander in pleasant meadows, in fragrant 
groves, by purling brooks, and by sweet fountains. 
But poor fallen man is not allowed to pluck any flowers 
and fruits, except those that grow by the wayside. 
Blessed be God, there are enough of these to delight 
the eye, to cheer the heart and strengthen the frame 
of the lone pilgrim in his dusty travel. 

Having adopted Brown's explanation of the terms 
employed in the 13th and 14th verses, we will next 
attempt to show their connection with the previous 
subject. The 12th verse briefly sums up the whole 
of the Christian's duty to his fellow-creatures. It 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 223 

consists in doing to them as he would that they should 
do to him. This duty has been perfectly performed 
by but one solitary being of our whole apostate race. 
The "Man of Sorrows" alone has complied with it. 
And just in proportion to our conformity to him, will 
be our obedience to the golden rule. If our union 
with him were perfect, so would be our compliance 
with the direction to "do as we would be done by." 
The failure to come up to this lofty standard of duty 
arises entirely from our not being " dead unto sin, and 
alive unto God through Christ Jesus our Lord." The 
12th verse requires us to love our neighbours as our- 
selves; the 13th verse teaches us that this can only be 
done by having " the love of God shed abroad in our 
hearts by the Holy Ghost." Love to God is the only 
true source of love to man ; and so the Apostle felt when 
he said, "Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also 
to love one another." Paul's affection for the Corin- 
thians was so lively, and his zeal for their spiritual 
well-being so vehement, that his enemies charged him 
with being "beside himself." But he explained his 
ardent interest in them by saying, " The love of Christ 
constraineth us." An eloquent writer has enlarged 
the same thought : " Here, then, is love — that deep 
sense of God's love to us, which shows us the necessity, 
the reasonableness of being kind to others; the feeling 
of a heart which, labouring under a sense of its obli- 
gations to God and finding itself too poor to extend 
its goodness to him, looks around and gives utterance 
to its exuberant gratitude in acts of kindness to man." 



224 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

{J. A. James.) So intimate is the relation between 
the love of God and the love of man, that the Apostle 
expresses them both by the single word, "charity." 
The existence of the one species of love is a sure proof 
of the existence of the other. Hence, when the young 
man came running and kneeled down at the feet of 
Jesus, saying, "Good Master, what shall I do that I 
may inherit eternal life?" our Saviour questioned 
him only in regard to his obedience to the second 
table of the law; for if he truly loved his neighbour 
as himself, he might be assured that he loved God 
with all his heart. But though the young man 
thought that he had kept all the commandments of 
the second table "from his youth up," he "went 
away grieved," when he found how " exceeding 
broad" they were. He lacked the love of God, the 
only true foundation of love for man. The Apostle 
John, like our Saviour, makes obedience to the second 
table a test of obedience to the first. " We know that 
we have passed from death to life, because we love 
the brethren. He that loveth not his brother, abideth 
in death." "If a man say, I love God, and hateth 
his brother, he is a liar ; for he who loveth not his 
brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God, 
whom he hath not seen? And this commandment 
have we from him, That he who loveth God, love his 
brother also." This correlation of the love of God 
and the love of man, establishes the connection be- 
tween the 13th verse and the preceding. 

A few practical thoughts are suggested by the two 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 225 

gates and the two ways. Every one of our race has 
passed through one of these gates and is at this very 
instant in the road to heaven or in the road to hell. 
There is no third gate, there is no third path. The 
Son of God has proclaimed, " he that is not with me 
is against me." There can be no neutrality in the 
war raging between the powers of light and the 
powers of darkness. Every human being is arrayed 
either on the side of truth and holiness, or on the 
side of falsehood and wickedness. Every human be- 
ing is fighting for his Maker, Redeemer, Preserver 
and Benefactor, or for the enemy of God, the 
enemy of his race and the enemy of his own soul. 
Every one who is united to Christ, is in the way to 
life, for Christ is "the way, the truth and the life." 
Every one who is not so united, is, at this present 
moment, in the broad road that leadeth to death. 
" He that believeth on Him (the Son) is not con- 
demned ; but he that believeth not, is condemned 
already, because he hath not believed in the name of 
the only begotten Son of God." Surely this con- 
sideration is solemn enough to make the most care- 
less sinner stop in his downward course to the 
chambers of eternal death. "0 that men were wise, 
that they understood this," that they would but con- 
sider that they are either in the road to God, to 
heaven and eternal life, or in the broad way to 
Satan, to hell and eternal death. 

This way is broad. There is room enough in it 
for the hypocrite's path with all its crooks and wind- 
20* 



226 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

ings. There is room enough in it for the sanctimoni- 
ous self-deceiver and the bold blasphemer; for the 
decent moralist and the filthy rake ; for the miser 
and the spendthrift; for the shrivelled prostitute and 
the modest maiden, who loves the world more than 
her Saviour ; for the hardened old reprobate with his 
hands steeped in blood, and the lovely youth "not far 
from the kingdom of God," but still not in the way 
of life. All these, of various characters and disposi- 
tions, can travel together this exceeding wide road, 
without jostling one another. The rigid formalist, 
who stickles for creeds and modes of worship, but 
denies the power of godliness, may pursue his route 
to endless despair, without fearing encounter from 
the poor "fool," who "says in his heart, There is no 
God." The heretic, and the orthodox in profession, 
but not in life, have space enough for their different 
roads to everlasting torment. The brutal pagan, and 
the refined Christian, with enlightened understanding 
and unrenewed heart, has each his appropriate walk, 
leading with equal certainty to "where the worm 
dieth not and the fire is not quenched." 

There is a multitude in the broad way to destruc- 
tion; " many there be which go in thereat." " Hell 
has enlarged herself and opened her mouth without 
measure ; and their glory, and their multitude and 
their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into 
it." The multitude in the way of death draw vast 
crowds with them. There is a demoralizing influence 
in all large collections of men. This is exerted in a 



SEKMON ON THE MOUNT. 227 

fourfold manner. First: They "encourage" one 
another, "in an evil matter." They mutually tempt 
and stimulate one another to sin. They commit 
daring, heaven-defying sins in the presence of their 
■wicked associates, which they would be afraid to 
commit when alone. Herod feared John the Baptist, 
"knowing that he was a just man," but when sur- 
rounded by his " lords, high-captains and chief 
estates of Galilee," he did not hesitate to order 
the execution of the great forerunner of Christ. 
Second: The desire of the approbation of guilty 
companions is a strong incentive with the wicked 
to the commission of sin. Men often profess to be 
more hardened, more shameless and more depraved 
than they really are, for the sake of the notoriety 
that it gives them with their confederates in vice. 
"The workers of iniquity boast themselves." There 
is far more hypocrisy outside of the church than in 
it. There are more who pretend to be viler than 
they are, than who profess to be holier than they are. 
The former class of hypocrites is the more despicable 
of the two. The sanctimonious deceiver has, at least, 
some regard for decency ; the other glories in hi3 
shame. Third : Sympathy with the masses is a 
powerful element of evil. "As in water, face an- 
swereth to face ; so the heart of man to man." 
We are all prone to imitate the conduct of others and 
to be affected by feelings similar to theirs. And 
since the majority in every community are not on 
the Lord's side, the influence exerted through sym- 



228 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

pathy must, on the whole, be against the Re- 
deemer's kingdom. Hence the wise man, in view of 
this, says, "enter not into the path of the wicked, 
and go not in the way of evil men." And He, who 
knows the heart of man altogether, has given this 
positive command, "thou shalt not follow a multitude 
to do evil." To the contaminating power of sympa- 
thy with evil-doers, is to be ascribed the awful 
depravity of large cities. Hence too, the low standard 
of morals among soldiers and sailors. Hence also, 
the greater amount of wickedness in State Univer- 
sities and in Colleges overflowing with numbers, than 
in those less known and less celebrated. This ac- 
counts too, as we think, for the numerous rebellions 
and backslidings of the children of Israel in their 
journey to the promised land. " The mixed multi- 
tude fell a lusting." This explains what otherwise 
seems inexplicable. We wonder that a people could 
forget God, who had seen so many tokens of his 
power, and who had the pillar of cloud hovering 
over them by day and the pillar of fire lighting up 
their camp by night. But when we reflect that more 
than 600,000 warriors, with their families, marched 
under the banners of Moses and Aaron, we can 
readily conceive that the discontented, the murmur- 
ing and the rebellious, might touch a chord whose 
pulsations would be felt throughout that vast host. 

The fourth evil influence exerted by the multitude, 
which we will notice, is that inspired by confidence in 
numbers. Let poor worms of the dust, who sprung 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 229 

up yesterday and will be crushed down to-morrow, be 
collected together in great crowds, and they will lift 
up their puny heads and feel too strong for the Om- 
nipotent Jehovah. The angel of the Lord smote in 
one night, one hundred and eighty-five thousand of 
the host of Sennacherib, because by his messengers 
he had reproached the Lord, saying, "with the multi- 
tude of my chariots I am come up to the heights of 
the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut 
down the tall cedars thereof, and the tall fir-trees 
thereof, &c." The horrible blasphemies, during the 
French Revolution, were uttered chiefly in Paris and 
the large cities of France. Infidelity has never 
flourished in rural districts ; it needs to have its 
courage stimulated by clubs, associations and gather- 
ings of men. Hence the good and great of our race, 
those who have left a healthful impress upon society, 
have generally been born in the country, away from 
the noxious influence of the multitude. 

Well may the road to death be broad, since the 
vast crowds now in it of every sect, kindred, tongue 
and people, are constantly swelling their numbers, and 
crying out for more room. According to this view, 
the road is wide to accommodate the multitudes which 
throng it, and not to make it pleasant and agreeable. 
The common interpretation is, that the broad way 
signifies the ease with which sinners travel to destruc- 
tion. This exposition conflicts with the word of God. 
Eternal truth has proclaimed, "the way of trans- 
gressors is hard." It may be wide, (and so is the 



230 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

path across the wastes of Sahara,) but it will be hard 
and painful. "Fools, because of their transgression, 
are afflicted." " The wicked are like the troubled sea 
when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and 
dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the 
wicked." It is surely a mistake to suppose that the 
sinner has a happy journey to hell. He has to war 
against the Spirit of God, against the monitions of 
conscience, against the warnings of the Bible, against 
the remonstrances of friends, and against the plead- 
ings of the Gospel ministry. Sinful indulgences, too, 
will bring loss of health, loss of property, loss of repu- 
tation, and loss of friends ; so that the broad way to 
death will be anything but delightful. Above all, the 
fierce anger of God will be upon him, and "he will be 
cursed in the city and cursed in the field. The Lord 
shall send upon him cursing, vexation and rebuke, in 
all that he sets his hand unto for to do, until he be 
destroyed, and until he perish quickly ; because of the 
wickedness of his goings." The poor sinner has 
lamentation and woe by the way, weeping and wail- 
ing, and gnashing of teeth at his journey's end. He 
is then appropriately called a "fool," by "the only 
wise God;" since he deliberately selects a route of 
travail and trouble, which leads to unending and 
immeasurable woe. 

We think that the 14th verse contains the precious 
doctrine of the final perseverance of God's people. 
It exhorts to enter the narrow way, because there are 
few that find it. The language implies that the diffi- 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 231 

culty in getting to heaven consists in finding the 
right road. Many seek, and find not, because they 
seek amiss ; or they seek when it is too late, as is 
shown in the parallel passage in Luke. Now since 
the whole force and life-blood of the exhortation con- 
sists in the fact, that multitudes miss the way, and not 
in that they stray out of it, when once in, the most 
natural construction that can be put upon the words 
of our Saviour is, that there is perfect security to the 
man who is united to him. They are then born of 
the Spirit, and " that which is born of the Spirit, is 
spirit." The believer has become a partaker in the 
nature of Christ, and God will not permit the world, 
the flesh, and the devil, to destroy a part of his own 
Son. The regenerate are gifts from the Father to 
the Son ; and He, who has received these gifts, has 
said, " My Father, which gave them me, is greater 
than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of 
my Father's hand." .Mere earthly monarchs will not 
permit their gifts to be despised ; shall the Sovereign 
of the universe be less jealous of his? The puny 
kings of the world will not suffer their children to be 
robbed; shall the King of kings and Lord of lords be 
indifferent to the interests of his well-beloved Son? 
Some of the most desolating wars in the annals of 
history, have been waged to secure to the heir- 
apparent, his rightful possessions. The common 
sentiment of mankind pronounces these wars just and 
righteous. Ought not that sentiment also to pro- 
nounce it just, in the omnipotent God, not to allow 



232 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

Christ, "whom he hath appointed heir of all things," 
to be deprived of the precious, immortal souls which 
have been given him? 

FALSE GUIDES. 

" Beware of false prophets, which come to you in 
sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening 
wolves." (Verse 15.) 

The primary signification of the word "prophet," 
is " one, who foretells future events." It, however, 
no doubt, means in this place, a religious teacher, as 
it does in several other places in the New Testament. 
Thus John says, "many false prophets are gone out 
into the world." And Paul speaks of those who "are 
built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, 
Jesus Christ being the chief corner-stone." And in 
writing to the Ephesians, he alludes to the "mystery 
of Christ" being " now revealed unto his holy apostles 
and prophets by the Spirit." When this was written, 
the spirit of prophecy, in the sense of foretelling, had 
almost ceased. One of the functions of the prophets 
was to teach ; and when the gift of foretelling was 
taken away, the office of teaching alone remained. 
Peter alludes to this — "But there were false prophets 
among the people," (of old time,) "even as there shall 
be false teachers among you." Here the teacher of 
the new dispensation is compared with the prophet of 
the old. It is probable that our Saviour used the 
word prophet in the 15th verse, in its most compre- 
hensive sense, to embrace both the false teacher in 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 233 

regard to future events, and the false teacher of reli- 
gious truth. The "sheep's clothing," in this verse, 
refers to the outward profession of the teacher in 
holy things, which gives promise of lamb-like meek- 
ness, innocence and purity. 

The dependence of the 15th verse upon the pre- 
ceding, must be apparent to the most careless reader. 
The true reason why many do not find the narrow 
way, is that false guides lead them away from it into 
other paths. Men love to be led ; and they will take 
any leader rather than seek the road to heaven them- 
selves. We will not search for ourselves, and such is 
the perversity of our natures, that we will take any 
guide, in preference to the Spirit of truth, and the 
Book of all truth. This perverse nature we have 
inherited from our great progenitors, who put them- 
selves under the guidance of Satan, and followed him 
rather than God. Partly from a like perversity, and 
partly from indolence and consequent unwillingness to 
search for ourselves "the Scriptures, which are able 
to make" us " wise unto salvation, through faith which 
is in Christ Jesus," we take as our guides the dicta 
of men, the traditions of the elders, &c. And these 
two powerful causes, viz. the perversity of depraved 
nature and natural indolence, operate to make one 
half of Christendom content to submit their judgments 
and their consciences to the control of a poor old man 
at Rome. The blind obedience inculcated by Catho- 
licism to creeds, confessions of faith, formularies of 
the church, decisions of councils, and bulls of the 
21 



234 CONSIDERATION OP THE 

Pope, is in direct conflict with the teachings of the 
Son of God, and his chosen apostles. He did not 
even require belief in himself, except on evidence of 
the divine character of his mission. Therefore, he 
constantly referred to his miracles as proofs that he 
was from God. Therefore, he constantly enjoined 
the study of the Scriptures, that men might believe 
him to be the Messiah. " Search the Scriptures, for 
in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are 
they which testify of me." We are told that "the 
common people heard him gladly," when he had con- 
founded the Scribes and Pharisees by a quotation from 
the Psalms of David. At Nazareth, he demonstrated 
his Mpssiahship, by reading the prophecy of Esaias 
concerning himself. And when he ended by saying, 
"this day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears; all 
bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words 
which proceeded out of his mouth." " The chief priests 
and the Scribes sought to lay hands on him," when he 
predicted his rejection by the Jewish nation, in fulfil- 
ment of the prophecy, that " the stone which the 
builders rejected," was to "become the head of the 
corner." He often spoke of his death to the disci- 
ples, as being necessary that the Scriptures might 
be fulfilled. And after his resurrection, when he 
appeared to the two disciples, on the way to Emmaus, 
"beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he ex- 
pounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things 
concerning himself." Now, since our Saviour thus 
constantly submitted his claims as a divine Teacher, 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 235 

and the truth of his doctrine, to the infallible word of 
God, the Protestant world have surely high authority 
for maintaining the right of private judgment in 
matters of religious belief. If Christ did not condemn, 
but on the contrary, approved the application of the 
test of the Scriptures to his life and preaching, we are 
disposed to think that there can be no great sin in 
applying the same test to the utterances of his Holi- 
ness, the Pope. Our Saviour, so far from requiring 
implicit trust in the teachings of religious teachers, has 
warned us to "beware," lest there be "false pro- 
phets," and that we be able to discern the true from 
the false. He has given us this 

TEST OF RELIGIOUS TEACHERS. 

"Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men 
gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles ? Even so 
every good tree bringeth forth good fruit ; but a cor- 
rupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree can- 
not bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree 
bring forth good fruit." (Verses 16-18.) 

We understand by "fruit," primarily the doctrine 
of the teacher. The fruit of the tree is that which 
it yields for the use of man. When we speak of the 
fruit of the labour of any one, we mean the result of 
his efforts in the department to which he belongs. 
Thus the fruit of the physician is the diseases he has 
cured, or the deaths he has caused. The fruit of the 
lawyer consists in the wrongs he has redressed, or the 
litigation he has fomented. The fruit of the mechanic 



236 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

consists in the good or bad work done in his trade. 
And so the fruit of the teacher is the sound or 
unsound instruction that he has imparted. The tree, 
we understand, then, to be the teacher, and the fruit 
to be his doctrine. The man is to be judged by his 
doctrine, and not the doctrine by the man. The 
former is the scheme of our Saviour and his Apostles, 
the latter of Papacy. With the Catholic, the bulls of 
Pio Nino must be infallible, because he is Pope. The 
fruit must be good, since they believe the tree to be 
good. Hence the faith of the Papist destroys all 
investigation, destroys all intellectual effort, and must 
tend to degrade him to the level of the unthinking 
brute. The natural result of this false scheme has 
been to sink Catholic countries in the scale of 
humanity. Paralyze the mind in regard to the exami- 
nation of the most momentous questions that can 
interest man, and you must unfit the faculties for any 
rational investigation whatever. Hence the low grade 
of Spain, Portugal, Italy, Austria, Mexico and South 
America, among the thinking nations of the earth. 
On the other hand, the free spirit of inquiry in reli- 
gious matters has made Scotland the mother of the 
profoundest thinkers of the earth. The open Bible, 
the right to read it, the right to interpret it, 
the right to measure all human teaching by it, 
the right to compare truth with truth, the right to 
harmonize the whole, by enlightened private judg- 
ment, and not by the arbitrary decrees of Popes and 
councils — these glorious privileges have placed Scot- 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 237 

land in the fore-front of the intellectual world. These 
high and holy privileges have been guarantied to 
her too, not by princes and nobles of the earth, but 
by the Scriptures of truth. "My beloved," says 
John, "believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, 
whether they be of God." Language cannot be con- 
structed plainer, to show that the trial of religious 
instructors is to be made by believers themselves, and 
for themselves. But a greater than John had taught 
that men must take heed for themselves, and judge 
false teachers by themselves. " For false Cbrists and 
false prophets shall arise," said our Saviour, "and 
shall show signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were 
possible, even the elect. But take ye heed : behold, 
I have foretold you all things." Mark xiii. 22, 23. 
The personality of the address cannot be mistaken ; 
believers are not to trust to the guardianship of 
others, but are to be on their own guard, and whilst 
thus watching, are to escape the snares of seducers, 
by observing the precautions their Master has given 
them. Here, then, we will leave the matter. The 
example of our Saviour, in submitting his own claims 
to the Scripture ordeal, and his warning to his disci- 
ples, to beware of false prophets, and to take heed of 
seducers, these are sufficient to prove that we have a 
right to think for ourselves, and to examine all reli- 
gious teaching in the light of God's word. The cau- 
tion, too, against "blind guides" and "false pro- 
phets," is in itself a caution against their wrong 
guidance and wrong instruction ; just as a warning 
21* 



2-38 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

against an unskilful surgeon would be a warning 
against his mal-practice. So Peter denounces "false 
teachers," because they "privily shall bring in damna- 
ble heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them." 
So Paul tells Timothy, that "the Spirit speaketh 
expressly, that in the latter times some shall de- 
part from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits 
and doctrines of devils." The danger then lies in 
the doctrine ; it is this that constitutes the evil, 
it is this that is to be avoided, it is this that 
is to show the corruptness of the tree. A feeble 
objection may be raised to this view, on the ground 
that bad men may preach the truth. If so, their 
teaching ought to be laid up in the heart, and prac- 
tised in the life of the hearer. On the other hand, 
may not a proclaimer of the most atrocious heresies 
be outwardly circumspect and blameless in all his 
walk and conversation ? It has often been said, that 
the Socinianism of one of our largest and most 
enlightened cities, was due to the respect felt for the 
pure character, as well as great talents, of a popular 
preacher of that doctrine. And it is plain, that the 
more blameless the life of the heresiarch, the more 
dangerous will be the heresy. We think, then, that 
"the fruit" must primarily refer to the instruction 
and not to the conduct and behaviour of the " false 
prophet." If Satan can transform himself into an 
angel of light, much more may a less sinful mortal 
bear the outward semblance of rectitude and pro- 
priety. Still, in a subordinate sense, the fruit may, 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 239 

and most probably does, refer to the works of the 
teacher. If he be a man of known bad character, it 
is strong prima facie evidence that his doctrine is 
wrong, and we should be specially on our guard in 
receiving it. We should weigh it well, and examine it 
well, by the only true criterion of orthodoxy, God's 
infallible word. 

The figure, employed by our Saviour, of the good 
and the bad tree, is very suggestive; but like other 
figures, it may be made to convey a meaning which 
cannot be deduced legitimately from it. Some have 
thought that the doctrine of human perfectibility was 
taught in the sentence, "a good tree cannot bring 
forth evil fruit." Adam Clarke says, "to teach as 
some have done, that a state of salvation can consist 
with the greatest crimes, (such as murder and adul- 
tery in David,) or that the righteous necessarily sin 
in all their best works, is really to make the good tree 
bring forth bad fruit, and to give the lie to the 
Author of eternal truth." {Clarke on the 18t7i verse.) 
Now, it is well known, as before stated, that men do 
not judge of a tree by a single bearing, but by its 
yield during a course of years. Still less, do they 
judge the tree by a few specimens, whether good or 
bad, in a single bearing. Some kinds of trees, (as 
the peach,) produce, when far gone in decay, a hand- 
ful of their most delicious fruit. Surely these half- 
dead and half-barren trees would not be pronounced 
good. If then a tree is not called good, because it 
yields a little choice fruit in a single year, neither 



240 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

should it be called bad, though it should fail altogether, 
one summer, to yield its delicious products. In fact, 
it ought not to be called bad, though it should even 
bear some bad fruit every season. The noblest trees 
in the orchard cast a large amount of untimely fruit. 
No one ever yet saw a fruit-tree that did not have 
along with its rich treasures a goodly proportion of 
crude, dwarfish, worm-eaten fruit. And so, no one 
ever knew a Christian, who did not bring forth some 
fruit "not meet for the Master's use." Let the per- 
fectionists point to a single sinless man, who has lived, 
moved, and had being in this sinful world. They will 
then exhibit such an one, as God, " whose eyes are 
in every place," has never been able to behold. 
Psalm xiv. From the manner, too, in which He 
speaks of Noah, Daniel, and Job, in the 14th chapter 
of Ezekiel, it is fair to infer that he regarded them as 
the holiest of all his creatures. And yet, the intem- 
perance of the first, and the penitent confessions from 
the lips of the last two, forbid us to suppose that even 
these mighty men of the Lord were free from the 
pollution of sin. Dr. Clarke might have learned a 
different lesson from the very symbol which has mis- 
led him. A killing frost frequently nips the blos- 
soms, the buds and the fruit of the finest trees in the 
orchard; so the blighting influence of "the Prince of 
the power of the air," but too often renders unpro- 
ductive, for a time, the noblest vines in the vineyard 
of the Lord. Moreover, an instructive truth is taught 
us by the mode in which the good tree is blighted for 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 241 

a season. The withering frost conies arrayed in 
white, the emblem of innocence, and it robes the 
plant it means to injure, in a lovely and attractive 
garb. And so the sin, that destroys the Christian's 
fruit, comes generally in some seducing guise. Thus 
James and John, when indulging the most malignant 
feelings towards a village of the Samaritans, thought 
that they were but jealous for the honour of their 
Master. Thus, honest and conscientious persecutors, 
in every age of the world, have covered up their ran- 
cour and virulence, under cover of zeal for the Lord. 
Thus, Saul thought that he was doing God service, 
when giving the reins to his venomous hate. Thus, 
too, it is with the well-meaning fanatics of the present 
day, who disguise their bitter enmity to their bre- 
thren, under the mask of false philanthropy. How 
often has the pretext of innocent amusements 
seduced to the theatre, to the gaming-table, and to 
the haunts of vice ! How often has the young dis- 
ciple put forth fair leaves and buds of promise, but 
alas, has had his fruit blasted by some white-robed 
temptation ! How often has some alluring vice 
assumed the semblance of virtue, to delude the old 
and well-established Christian! 

THE VINE AND THE FIG-TREE. 

These objects were familiar to all his hearers, and, 
we presume, that this was the chief reason why our 
Saviour employed them, to illustrate his warning 
against false prophets. And thus it is in all his won- 



242 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

derful teaching ; all his figures, types and emblems are 
drawn from every-day life, and are, therefore, within 
the comprehension of the humblest of mankind. The 
vine and the fig-tree abounded in Palestine, and were 
familiar to all his audience. They were accustomed, 
moreover, to see them associated together in the 
writings of Moses and the prophets. "We find them 
thus associated in the description of the promised 
land — "a land of wheat and barley, and vines and 
fig-trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil-olive and 
honey." Deut. viii. 8. Dwelling securely under the 
vine and fig-tree was typical of peace, prosperity and 
plentifulness. Thus, it is said, that during the 
reign of Solomon, " Judah and Israel dwelt safely, 
every man under his vine and under his fig-tree." 
1 Kings iv. 24. And the crowning blessing of the 
restoration shall be, that " they shall sit every man 
under his vine and under his fig-tree; and none shall 
make them afraid." Micah iv. 4. And in the curse 
denounced by Jeremiah for their disobedience, it was 
predicted that their enemies should "eat up their 
vines and their fig-trees." It was the pathetic lament 
of Joel, "that a nation, strong and without number, 
hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig-tree." 
We find the vine and the fig-tree mentioned together 
in the sublime hymn-prayer of Habakkuk, and in 
many other places in the Old Testament Scriptures. 
So that our Saviour alludes to them, not merely 
because his disciples were familiar with the objects 
themselves, but because they were also familiar with 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 243 

the typical character which they bore in the writings 
of Moses and the prophets. This familiarity with 
symbolic language, would make the audience readily 
comprehend any new use made of these plants, in 
conveying moral instruction. But we can readily 
conceive other reasons for using the vine and the fig- 
tree, rather than any others of the growth of the for- 
est, to prefigure all the instruction which Christ 
wished to convey. First, since there is a thorn that 
has a berry not unlike the grape, and since there is a 
thistle that has a pod not unlike the fig, the point of 
the warning against false teachers, is not to trust in 
outward appearance. Heresy may resemble ortho- 
doxy ; bad doctrine is often very like to good ; corrupt, 
worm-eaten fruit can scarcely be distinguished on 
the outside, from the sound and healthful. Moses 
speaking of the wicked says, "their vine is the vine 
of Sodom." It is thought that in his day, the fruit 
which grew on the coasts of the Dead Sea, though 
outwardly beautiful, were all rotten within, and 
"turned to ashes on the lips." The poet Moore has 
embalmed this idea, in some exquisite lines. The 
fact, that our Saviour speaks of products that so 
closely resemble the bearing of the vine and the fig- 
tree, is sufficient to show that dangerous forms of 
error may present a seeming family likeness to the 
truths of God. The sons of the prophets mistook 
poisonous wild gourds for nutritious garden vege- 
tables. Thus the most pernicious instruction may 
bear the similitude of inspired teaching. Mahomet 



244 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

threw a patch-work covering of Judaism and Chris- 
tianity, over his hideous system of religion, and thus 
concealed its monstrous features. Since, then, the 
true and the false, the sound and the unsound, the 
beautiful and the shocking, in religious teaching, may 
be made to look so much alike, how important it is, 
to "try the spirits, whether they be of God." 

Second. We are taught by the figure, dependence 
upon God. The vine, to which the believer is so 
often likened in the Scriptures, is a dependent plant. 
It can never rise above the ground, and must for ever 
creep along there, unless it lay hold with its tendrils 
upon something of sturdier growth. If it wrap 
itself around the majestic oak, with broad-spreading 
branches, it too will send out its creepers far and 
wide, and it will fall only when the giant of the forest 
shall fall. But if it seize upon some frail and slender 
support, it will share in the insignificance of its prop, 
and partake of its speedy ruin. If it climb upon the 
tall pine, its clusters will ripen high in the air, under 
the genial influence of the sun. But if it attach itself 
to some dwarfling of the grove, it will be overshadowed 
and its fruit will be sour and rotten, from want of 
light and heat. Thus it is with man; if he cling to 
the earth, he will be a groveller and creeper all the 
days of his wretched existence. But if he take Jesus 
as his prop and support, he will ever be rising higher 
and higher towards heaven and God, and his fruit will 
be unto eternal life. 

Third. The figure teaches the avoidance of ostenta- 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 245 

tion and display. The vine and the fig-tree have no 
gaudy flowers to attract the eye and please the fancy. 
The vine, when in bloom, fills the surrounding atmos- 
phere with its fragrance. But this perfume literally 
steals upon the air; the modest giver can only be 
found after diligent search, embowered from observa- 
tion in some leafy covert. And thus it should be 
with the child of God; the odour of his holy life 
should be breathed by all in his atmosphere, while he 
himself is in retirement from prying gaze and noisy 
applause. 

Fourth. The figure teaches that the disciple of 
Christ should be fruitful. The fig-tree is his type, 
and it is among the most fruitful trees of the earth. 
The celebrated botanist and traveller, Tournefort, 
says, that he saw fig-trees in the islands of the 
Archipelago, which yielded two hundred and eighty 
pounds of fruit apiece annually. The fig-tree is then 
eminently fruitful and useful, though it has so little 
in its appearance of the splendid and the gorgeous. 
And thus should it be with the Christian; all his 
powers should be devoted to usefulness, and not to 
selfish and vainglorious display. 

Fifth. The figure teaches the nature of grace — free, 
sovereign, electing grace. The vine and the fig-trees 
in the vineyard and orchard, are the planting of the 
husbandman, who selects the scions according to his 
pleasure. He selects, plants, waters, and nurtures 
just such plants as he thinks will suit his purpose the 
best. And thus it is with the Great Husbandman, 
22 



246 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

He chooses, in his sovereign pleasure, some for 
honour and some for dishonour, some for one service 
and some for another, and some are passed by or 
rejected altogether. And as the shoots chosen by 
the husbandman have no cause for boasting and self- 
laudation, neither have the elect of God any cause to 
glory in their selection. The reason of it is to be 
found in his gracious will, and not in their deserving 
of this special mark of his consideration. The 
honour calls for humility, gratitude, and the thankful 
acknowledgment, "even so, Father, for so it seemed 
good in thy sight." The Jews were chosen from 
among all the nations of the earth, not because of 
their merits, but because of the grace of God. And 
so he has selected from among the Gentiles, of his 
own free will, wild-olive branches, to partake of 
"the root and fatness of the olive-tree." Rom. xi. 17. 
And those plants alone which he has put in the 
soil, or grafted into good trees, will bear fruit unto 
eternal life. "Every plant," says our Saviour, 
"which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall 
be rooted up." 

Although it has but little connection with the pre- 
sent subject, it may not be amiss to state, that the 
figure of grafting, employed by St. Paul, explains 
perfectly what seem to some anomalies in the 
character of the renewed man. The world often 
expects the individual, who professes "to be born 
again," to be "a new creature," not merely in the 
principles and motives that actuate him, but also in 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 247 

temperament and disposition. But the language of 
Paul teaches a different lesson. The juices flow into 
the grafted scion through the old channel; but the 
juices themselves are different, and they convert the 
wild and noxious fruit into the useful and the 
healthful. And thus it is with the renewed child of 
God. He retains his old temperament, his old dispo- 
sition, his old mental organization, and his old phy- 
sical nature; but a living God-sent vitality per- 
meates them all, and changes hurtful lusts into holy 
desires, persecuting zeal into ardent philanthropy, 
energy for evil into activity for good, love for error 
into devotion to truth, delight in sensual indulgence 
into joy in spiritual worship, audacity in upholding 
the wrong into courage in defending the right, san- 
guine trust in the world to hopeful confidence in God, 
persevering effort to accomplish wicked ends into 
consistent diligence to be useful. Thus John retained 
his loving disposition, Peter his impetuous tempera- 
ment, Paul his fiery zeal, Nicodemus his prudence, 
and Zaccheus his low stature. The great change 
leaves unaltered the usual channels of thought, of 
feeling, and of action. The learned does not become 
unlearned, neither does the simple become wise in 
the wisdom of this world; the hopeful does not become 
despondent, nor is the melancholy temperament ne- 
cessarily changed into the sanguine and the cheerful. 
Grace modifies the tone of thought, and the natural 
temperament, just so far as is necessary for the glory 
of God and no farther. The harp that gives out 



248 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

its music to his praise is composed of many strings. 
At one time it is struck by lamenting Jeremiah, and 
wails out the melancholy strain, "I am the man that 
hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. He hath 
led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into 
light. Surely against me is he turned; he turneth his 
hand against me all the day." Again, it is struck by 
Miriam and her rejoicing attendants, and utters in 
tones of triumph: "Sing ye unto the Lord, for he 
hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider 
hath he thrown into ihe sea." And so the penitential 
psalm and the hymn of praise has each its appro- 
priate string, and its appropriate tune. Who can tell 
whether the melody of contrition or the melody of 
gratitude be most grateful to the great Author of 
our lives? Who can tell whether the deep diapason 
of trust in him, or the lowly music of self-loathing 
and self-distrust, strikes most harmoniously on "the 
ears of the Lord of Sabaoth"? Who can tell whether 
the swelling notes of the confident and the impetuous, 
or the plaintive tones of the diffident and the cautious, 
be most agreeable to him? Who can tell whether he 
is most pleased with the war-cry of Mr. Great- Heart, 
or with the timid yet loving appeal of Mr. Feeble- 
Mind? Doubtless, he has given a diversity of gifts 
and tongues, a diversity of tastes and temperaments, 
a diversity of thoughts and feelings, in order that the 
grand universal symphony, in which the whole body 
of believers unite, may be more varied, more rich, 
more full, and more sweet. 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 249 



TEST OF PROFESSED DISCIPLES. 

"Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit, is 
hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by 
their fruits ye shall know them." (Verses 19, 20.) 

The word "every" in these verses, evidently refers 
to the whole body of communicants. We understand 
our Saviour to give in them a test, by which pro- 
fessed disciples may be judged, and that is their 
fruitfulness. The preceding verses try religious 
teachers by their good or bad fruit; these, all who 
have taken the oath of allegiance to Christ, by their 
productiveness or barrenness. The former embrace 
the clergy, the latter the laity. We confine the 
application of the 19th verse to professed believers, 
because in the parable of the fig-tree, as recorded by 
Luke, (13th chapter,) it is the unfruitful tree planted 
in the vineyard, and not that growing wild in the 
forest, which is to be cut down, because of its barren- 
ness. And we think that religious teachers are not 
embraced in the threat contained in the 19th verse, 
because they cannot be unfruitful. Their doctrine 
must be "according to godliness," else it will be "the 
doctrine of devils." It must have "a savour of life 
unto life," else it will have "a savour of death unto 
death." The minister of the gospel can occupy no 
neutral ground. But the private member of the 
church may be a mere negation. He may be neither 
cold nor hot. He may be neither on the Lord's side, 
nor on the side of Satan and the world. He may 
22* 



250 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

stimulate no one, by his holy walk and conversation, 
to zeal for the service of God ; neither may he urge 
them, by word or act, to strive for the wages of ini- 
quity. Instead of bearing bad fruit, he may lie (so 
the 19th verse teaches) as a cut down tree, a dead log, 
in the way of life, over which, it is true, multitudes 
may tumble into perdition. But he is then a passive, 
and not an active, instrument of mischief. He may 
however do more harm by his immobility, than the 
heresiarch by his activity. The dead log, across the 
railroad track, may be more destructive than the 
upas-tree, with its poisonous breath. Men are prone 
to look upon the decaying trunk in the way as an 
innocent thing; but it is an impediment and an 
obstruction to all, and it may be a stumbling-block to 
many. And thus it is with the inert, sluggish disci- 
ple. He may fancy that he wrongs no one, when he 
is obstructing the narrow way that leadeth to life. 
We understand then the test of the private member 
of the church to be different from that of the 
preacher. The latter is to be tried by the scriptural 
or unscriptural character of his preaching; the former 
by his fruitfulness or barrenness, by his activity or 
by his slothfulness. 

FINAL DESTINY OF THE BARREN. 

"Every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit, 

is hewn down and cast into the fire." The present 

tense and not the future is employed. The axe is 

already eating into the heart and life of the barren 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 251 

tree. The act of cutting down is now going on. The 
bark is even now cut, the life-giving sap is flowing 
out; the cells that contain it, the channels that convey 
it, are breaking up. And yet there is nothing to 
give sign that the fatal work is in progress, the axe 
does not ring out on the air, there is no moving in 
the top of the tree, the leaves are withering so slowly 
that the beholder cannot distinguish the incipient 
decay. Who can tell how far the girdling may go on 
and the tree still live? Who can tell when the next 
blow will bring crashing to the earth all those goodly 
but fruitless branches, with their rich but useless 
foliage? Who can tell whether the axe shall be 
arrested before the tree fall, but not until it shall be 
fatally injured ? Who can tell how long it may be left 
a leafless, sapless trunk, by the way-side, robbed of 
that verdure which gave promise of fruit and yielded 
none? Who can tell how long it may stand as a 
monument of God's wrath — desolate, doomed, and 
forsaken ? 

The fruitless disciple should ponder it well, that he 
is compared to a tree, against which the blows of the 
woodman are falling thick and fast. A little time 
more, its fate will be sealed and its death certain. 
And though it fall not, it is left drying up to be fitter 
for burning. 

PRUNING AND CUTTING DOWN. 
The excision of the barren tree is a different thing 
from the pruning of the fruitful. "Every branch 



252 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

that beareth fruit," says our Saviour, "he (the 
Father) purgeth it, that it may bring forth more 
fruit." The pruning is to cut off those shoots, which 
serve as channels to carry off the juices from the main 
stem. When these outlets are closed up, the sap 
flows back into the proper ducts, and produces fruit 
for the husbandman's use. The affections, that ought 
to flow out towards God, are frequently turned from 
their channels into some shoot by the side, (it may be 
some cherished son or daughter;) but when this shoot 
is removed, they return to their old courses, and 
move on with their wonted current and vigour. The 
pruning of the good tree is salutary, it makes it 
healthful and fruitful. But every blow struck at the 
barren tree is a blow struck at its life. The wounds 
are not given for healing, but for destruction. The 
cutting is not to send the juices back to their old 
channels, but to waste them on the ground. It is not 
to impart fresh vitality, vigour, and beauty, but to 
produce disease, death, and rottenness. This explains 
the difference between the trials of the righteous and 
of the wicked. In the former, they are pruning; in 
the latter, girdling. In the one, the trimming of the 
vine-dresser to make the vine more productive; in 
the other, the cutting down or deadening by the 
farmer of the useless trees that take strength and 
nutriment from his crop. In the one, they are the 
winnowing of the chaff from the wheat to make the 
wheat better; in the other, the gathering of the chaff 
for the fire. In the one, they are the tillage of the 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 253 

soil ; in the other, the rooting up of the tares before 
the time. Here then, we have a test of Christian 
character. Those who are made more fruitful, more 
heavenly-minded, more weaned from the world, by 
their trials, disappointments, and bereavements, have 
reason to hope that they have been chastised by a 
faithful and affectionate Parent. But those who are 
hardened and made more rebellious by their troubles 
and afflictions, have reason to fear that they have had 
a foretaste of punishment from an inexorable Judge. 
Jacob was sanctified by his multiplied afflictions, and 
there was a moral grandeur in the closing years of 
his life, which we in vain look for in his youth and 
early manhood ; but Pharaoh hardened his neck 
when often reproved, and he was "suddenly des- 
troyed, and that without remedy." David could say, 
"it was good for me that I have been afflicted;" 
but Saul was but rendered furious and desperate, by 
the severe judgments of a righteous God. Father in 
heaven, when thou layest thy hot and heavy hand on 
us guilty wretches, teach us to say with the inno- 
cent Sufferer, "not my will, but thine be done." 
When thou cuttest the cords that bind us to this 
perishing earth, that thou wouldst bind the sun- 
dered ends to thine own eternal throne. 

THE SIN OF TJNFRUITFULNESS. 

The language of the 19th verse is very impressive. 
It is not the corrupt tree, but the tree which bringeth 
not forth good fruit, that is to be hewn down and cast 



254 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

into the fire. And so in the figure employed, our 
Saviour does not speak of noxious plants, such as the 
upas tree, but of the barren — the thorn, and the 
thistle. And this is characteristic of all our Lord's 
teaching. He condemns neglect of duty more fre- 
quently than positive sin ; unfruitfulness more than 
yielding bad fruit. The burden of his parables is 
the sin of barrenness. The seed by the way-side, 
the seed among thorns, and the seed on stony ground, 
all represent the word received into unfruitful hearts. 
The householder, who let out his vineyard to hus- 
bandmen who would not render him the fruits in 
their season, was but a type of the Lord in his deal- 
ings with the Jewish nation, which did not render to 
him the peaceable fruits of righteousness. The poor 
wretch, at the marriage feast, had neglected to put 
on the wedding garment. The five foolish virgins 
had neglected to put oil in their lamps. The slothful 
servant, who hid his one talent in the earth, was cast 
into outer darkness for neglecting to put his Lord's 
money to the exchangers. The unprofitable servant, 
who laid his one pound up in a napkin, was deprived 
of it, because he neglected to put his Lord's money 
into the bank. In the parable of the supper, the 
offence was neglecting to come to the feast. In the 
parable of the fig-tree, it was to be cut down because 
the Lord had come for three years seeking fruit, and 
finding none. And so, too, in the vision of judgment, 
as given in the 25th chapter of Matthew; the offences, 
charged against those on the left hand, are all of 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 255 

them neglects of duty. "Depart from me, ye cursed, 
into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his 
angels: for I was an hungered, and ye gave me no 
meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I 
was a stranger, and ye took me not in : naked, and 
ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited 
me not." It is remarkable, too, that the only curse 
pronounced by our Saviour, whilst on earth, was that 
against the barren fig-tree. And thus it was ever the 
sin of omission which he especially rebuked. "Ye 
will not come unto me that ye might have life." "0 
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and 
stonest them which are sent unto thee; how often 
would I have gathered thy children together, as a 
hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and 
ye would not." "For every one that doeth evil 
hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his 
deeds should be reproved." 

The reason of this special condemnation of unfruit- 
fulness is plain. Slothful, inconsistent Christians do 
far more harm to the cause of religion than blas- 
pheming infidels. The false disciple is a stone of 
stumbling and a rock of offence, and retributive justice 
makes his punishment worse than having a mill-stone 
about his neck, and being cast into the depth of the 
sea. Matt, xviii. 6. The blasphemer is like the 
breaker at sea; it gives warning of danger by the 
roar and dashing of the waves. The inert, im- 
passive, immovable disciple is the sunken rock that 
wrecks, in a moment of hope and confidence, the 



256 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

stately vessel, with her precious freight of immortal 
souls. 

It may be well to remark, that the 20th verse, 
("wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them,") is 
not the mere repetition of the 16th verse. It con- 
tains rather the summary of the tests of the religious 
teacher, and the private member of the church. 
Each is to be judged by his fruits; the former by his 
good or bad fruit; the latter by the presence or 
absence of fruit. The comparison of the faithless 
disciple to a tree without fruit, is similar to that 
before given — salt which has lost its savour. In 
both illustrations there is semblance without reality, 
shadow without substance, promise of good without 
fulfilment. 

LIP-SERVICE. 

"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, 
shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that 
doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." 
(21st verse.) 

The leading thought contained in this verse is 
the same as in the preceding verses. The man who 
professes to honour God with his lips, and shows 
forth no good deeds in his life, is like the tree 
that has abundance of leaves and blossoms, and yields 
no fruit in its season. And as the husbandman is 
not content with the delusive foliage, neither is God 
content with the deceptive profession. Both planted 
for the fruit. Neither will be satisfied without it. 
God looks at the heart, not at the lips. Good works 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 257 

and not good words receive his commendation. The 
faithful servant, not the faithful talker, is rewarded 
with the "well done." The honest performance, and 
not the flattering promise, meets his approbation. 

Alas, how prone men are to be satisfied with draw- 
ing nigh unto God with their mouths, when their hearts 
are far from him ! How prone to lull their consciences 
to sleep with a name to live, when dead in trespasses 
and sins ! The Jews, when wholly given up to idola- 
try, could boastfully exclaim, "The temple of the 
Lord, the temple of the Lord, are these." And when 
their hearts were fully set in them to do evil, it is 
said of them, that "Bethel was their confidence," and 
that they were "haughty because of the holy moun- 
tain." And thus it is with thousands and tens of 
thousands at the present day. They boast in the 
church, and glory in their Christian profession, while 
practically denying, by their walk and conversation, 
the power of godliness and the beauty of holiness. 
And just in proportion to the hollowness of their 
hearts is the noisiness of their tongues. It is the 
hollow bell, and not the solid metal, which gives out 
most sound. Thorns crackle more under the pot than 
substantial hickory. Dry thistles and straw throw 
out more blaze than oak and ash. The shallow brook 
babbles incessantly, the deep river flows on in per- 
petual silence. Peter was the only one of the disci- 
ples who was loud in professions of unwavering allegi- 
ance to his Master; and Peter was the only one of 
the disciples who denied his Lord. Judas was the 
23 



258 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

only one of the apostles who talked generously of 
giving to the poor; and Judas was the only thief in 
the apostolic band. "We read of but one kiss being 
given to our blessed Redeemer; and that kiss was 
from the lips of a traitor. We read in the Scriptures 
of but one man who boasted of his zeal for the Lord, 
and that man was the profligate idolator Jehu. 

In his last discourse on earth, our Saviour was 
careful to draw a broad line of distinction between 
doing and saying, practice and profession, heart- 
service and lip-service. "He that abideth in me and 
I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit." 
"Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much 
fruit." "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall 
abide in my love." "Continue ye in my love." 
"Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command 
you." "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen 
you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring 
forth fruit." Here the highest possible reason is 
given for the performance of good deeds. They are 
not to merit salvation, but to glorify God. He is 
honoured by the good fruit of his vineyard, just as 
the husbandman is honoured by an abundant yield 
from his cultivated grounds. 

JESUS DECLARES HIS MESSIAHSHIP. 

The 21st verse is remarkable as containing the 
first declaration, in this sermon, of the Messiahship 
of the illustrious speaker. Previously he had spoken 
as one having superior authority to the Jewish 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 259 

teachers, and he had calmly set aside their false doc- 
trine, and interposed his own majestic, "but I say 
unto you." Now, however, he speaks as one to 
whom the veil, that shrouds the world of spirits, had 
been lifted; as one who knew the final destiny of 
every human being. We may imagine with what 
indignation the proud Scribes and Pharisees listened 
to the despised Nazarene, the carpenter's son, as he 
exposed the falsity of their instruction, and the cor- 
ruptness of their practice. But now astonishment 
must have swallowed up every other emotion, when 
this man, who had no pretension to learning, (John 
vii. 15,) professed to be able to read God's book of 
life, and to know who would be saved and who would 
be lost. And how must that astonishment have 
increased, when he went on (22d verse) to unfold the 
scenes of the great day of judgment, and to describe 
men as appealing to him to be saved, because of the 
mighty works done in his name. And finally, their 
amazement must have passed all bounds, when the 
lowly Galilean spake with calm dignity of himself as 
the Judge of the quick and dead, (23d verse.) Who 
can form any adequate conception of this whole 
scene? There stands a supposed illiterate peasant, 
a native of a despised community; a few ignorant 
fishermen are his friends and followers, and now sit 
reverentially at his feet; while right before him are 
the proud, the powerful, the learned, and the respected 
Jewish rulers and teachers. He begins by addressing 
a few words of comfort and consolation, of warning 



260 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

and direction, to his humble disciples, and then 
launches boldly forth in condemnation of the whole 
religious system of the most honoured and revered 
sects of his nation; promulgates doctrines entirely 
opposed to the passions, prejudices, and principles of 
the whole race of mankind; and ends with giving 
sanction and emphasis to all that he had uttered, by 
announcing himself to be the " Judge of all the earth." 
His words must have been attended with a divine 
energy, they must have come home to the hearts and 
consciences of his hearers with demonstration of the 
Spirit and power; else, they would have seemed the 
ravings of a madman. How else can we account for 
the toleration of the haughty and vindictive Scribes 
and Pharisees, when he exposed the ostentatious, 
vainglorious, self-seeking character of their religion? 
How else can we account for the bigoted, fanatical 
priests refraining to arrest him, as a blasphemer, 
when he arrogated to himself the attributes of the 
great God of the universe? 

SELF-DECEPTION. 

"Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, 
have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy 
name have cast out devils? and in thy name done 
many wonderful works? And then will I profess 
unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye 
that work iniquity." (Verses 22, 23.) 

There are six things in these verses that deserve 
our special consideration. First. The persons here 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 261 

described had made higher attainments than those 
mentioned in the 21st verse. These had gone much 
further than merely saying, "Lord, Lord," in an 
outward profession of religion. They had also been 
honoured with the gifts of prophecy, of casting out 
devils, and of working miracles ; and yet after all 
were lost. Thus, "Saul was among the prophets;" 
Caiaphas, the cruel, malignant wretch, was endued 
with the spirit of prophecy; Judas, "the son of per- 
dition," cast out devils; the Egyptian sorcerers 
wrought miracles. God may choose to bestow spi- 
ritual gifts upon unholy men, just as he often gives 
them genius and mental power. But the most won- 
derful endowments and the highest attainments count 
as nothing in his sight, if there be wanting "holiness, 
without which no man shall see the Lord." " Though 
I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mys- 
teries, and all knowledge; and though I have all 
faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not 
charity, I am nothing." And so Paul feared that 
notwithstanding his exalted gifts and amazing success 
as a preacher, he himself might be lost. "But I 
keep under my body and bring it into subjec- 
tion ; lest that by any means, when I have preached 
to others, I myself should be a cast-away." 1 Cor. 
ix. 27. How different is this humble spirit of the 
great Apostle from that of those who profess to have 
arrived at perfect assurance and a sinless state ! 

Second. The two verses under consideration with 
the one immediately preceding, constitute an unan- 
23* 



262 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

swerable argument to prove the divinity of the Sa- 
viour. In the 21st verse, he describes himself as 
perfectly acquainted with the secrets of the invisible 
world. In the 22d, he declares that he will be 
appealed to, as the umpire, in the great day of final 
accounts; and in the 23d, he teaches that it is his 
mandate that will banish the wicked to hell. These 
are attributes of God, and of God only. Hence the 
man of Calvary is " God manifest in the flesh." 

Third. We infer that the great body of professed 
disciples, who are lost, are self-deceivers, and not 
bold, audacious hypocrites. There is something so 
horrible in the thought of men assuming the garb of 
holiness, for wicked and selfish ends, that we are not 
disposed to believe that there are many unworthy 
communicants who are conscious of their own unwor- 
thiness. They must first deceive themselves, before 
they can deceive the world. No actor can play a 
feigned part well, without first entering into its spirit. 
The embodiments of the fancy must become tangible 
realities to him, else he can throw no illusion over 
the minds of the spectators. He must first delude 
himself, else he cannot delude his audience. Just 
so it is with the hypocrite, the actor, (as the word 
means;) he cannot impose upon others, until he has 
first imposed upon himself. And how fearful it is to 
reflect that men may live deceived in regard to their 
spiritual condition, that they may die deceived, and 
that they may stand deceived before the very bar of 
God! How dreadful to think that men may die in 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 263 

the hope of a blessed immortality, when an eternity 
of torment awaits them ; that they may even rise 
from the dead expecting to hear, " Come, ye blessed 
of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you 
from the foundation of the world," when they shall 
only hear, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlast- 
ing fire, prepared for the devil and his angels!" 

How important then is the duty of self-examina- 
tion ! How careful we should be to look well to the 
foundation of our hope ! 

"When I turn my eyes within, 

All is dark, and vain, and wild; 
Filled with unbelief and sin, 

Can I deem myself a child? 
Lord, decide the doubtful case, 

Thou, who art thy people's Sun: 
Shine upon thy work of grace, 

If it be indeed begun. 
Let me love thee more and more, 

If I love at all, I pray ; 
If I have not loved before, 

Help me to begin to-day." 

Fourth. The 22d verse explains the reason of the 
self-deception. The persons described in it were 
satisfied with mere gifts and attainments, and did not 
trust to the righteousness of Christ. They trusted in 
themselves that they were righteous. Observe, that 
they do not say, "Lord, Lord, thou knowest how we 
loathed sin and hated ourselves on account of it; thou 
knowest how we felt our utter inability to satisfy the 
claims of justice; thou knowest how we despaired of 



264: CONSIDERATION OF THE 

doing any good thing in our own strength ; thou 
knowest how, when we were thus convinced of our 
sin and misery, our minds were enlightened in the 
knowledge of thee, and our wills were renewed, so 
that we were enabled to embrace thee as our Saviour 
and our God." They have none of this humble 
spirit, none of this dependence upon a righteousness 
not their own. On the contrary, they are proud, 
boastful, self-sufficient, confident of their acceptance 
because of their mighty works. Therefore strong 
delusion was sent upon them, that they should 
believe a lie, in regard to the condition of their 
immortal souls. Their whole language shows that 
they knew nothing of humility, nothing of repent- 
ance, nothing of faith, and nothing of holiness. 

Fifth. The 21st verse most probably refers to self- 
deceivers among the laity, and the 22d to self- 
deceivers in the ranks of the clergy. If so, the 
language employed intimates that there is, propor- 
tionally, a greater number of the latter than of the 
former. In the 21st verse, it is "not every one," 
(ou pas;) in the 22d verse, it is, "many," (polloi.) 
Nor need we be surprised at this greater proportion 
of self-deceivers in the gospel ministry, when we 
reflect that it is entered in some countries merely as 
"a living," and is designated by that name; that it 
gives a position of respectability and literary ease ; 
that it may induce the habit of applying texts of 
Scripture to the wants of the congregation, and not 
to the minister's own individual case ; that it may 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 265 

beget spiritual pride — trust in the sacred profession, 
&c. &c. However this may be, if we were called 
upon to name the holiest man we eve%knew, we would 
not designate an eloquent preacher, a learned theolo- 
gian, a distinguished doctor of divinity, but an illite- 
rate African slave. We read of our Saviour rejoicing 
but once upon earth, and then it was because his 
" Father had hid these things from the wise and pru- 
dent, and had revealed them unto babes." Of like 
import is the language of David, "0 Lord, our Lord, 
how excellent is thy name in all the earth ! who hast 
set thy glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth 
of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength." 
Psalm viii. 1, 2. The glory of Grod is set above the 
heavens — is specially manfested by the little ones in 
Christ, the babes and sucklings, the lambs of the 
flock. The "please give me a new heart"* of the 
child on his dying couch, may honour him more than 
the eloquent prayer of Solomon before the assembly 
of Israel. The hymn of praise from the lowly hut 
may be more acceptable to him than the swelling 
tones of the organ in some grand old cathedral. The 
sweetest strains in the heavenly choir may be from 
the lips whose innocent prattle delighted so much on 
earth. Let us rejoice then in the pleasure they give 
our glorious Benefactor, and not selfishly mourn their 
loss. 

Sixth. The glorious doctrine of the final persever- 

* These were almost the last words of a much-loved boy. 



266 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

ance of God's people is plainly recognized: "And 
then I will profess unto them, I never knew you." 
Those who ar» rejected, have never been known, 
approved, and recognized by God as his children. 
The world may have so recognized them, but he had 
made no such mistake. The language plainly "inti- 
mates that if he had ever known them as the Lord 
knows them that are his ; had ever owned them, and 
loved them as his, he would have known them, and 
owned them, and '■loved them to the end; but he never 
did know them ; for he always knew them to be hypo- 
crites, and rotten at heart, as he did Judas; therefore 
he says, Depart from me." (Matthew Henry.) The 
father can never cease to remember his earthly son; 
God can never cease to remember his spiritual child. 
The parent may have his affections alienated from his 
offspring; but God loves with an " everlasting love." 
He " changes not." The security of the believer 
rests, then, not in his own ability to persevere in 
holiness, but in the immutable, eternal love of God. 
"And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, 
that I will not turn away from them, to do them 
good ; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that 
they shall not depart from me." Jer. xxxii. 40. Here 
we are plainly taught that the believer will never turn 
away from God, because God will never turn away 
from him. "Who are kept by the power of God 
through faith unto salvation." 1 Peter i. 5. The 
power of the Almighty God, not his own strength, is 
to keep the believer. The everlasting arms are 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 267 

beneath him ; he cannot fall, until these arms become 
weary and fail in strength. 

THE WISE MAN. 

" Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of 
mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise 
man, which built his house upon a rock. And the 
rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds 
blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for 
it was founded upon a rock." (Verses 24, 25.) 

The figurative style, which was dropped in the three 
preceding verses, is now resumed. The true disciple 
was likened to the good tree, that gave promise of 
fruit by its foliage, and gave fulfilment by an abun- 
dant crop of figs and grapes. He is now likened to 
a wise builder, who gives promise by gathering his 
materials, and then fulfils by building — building well 
and wisely on a sure foundation. 

There are several things to be specially noticed in 
these verses. 

First. A house is a place for comfort, repose, and 
shelter; it stands therefore as a type of religion, to 
which men look for consolation and security. The 
rock is doubtless the rock of ages, even Christ Jesus. 
We learn from his own lips, that he is "the stone 
which the builders refused." "Other foundation," 
says Paul, "can no man lay than that is laid, which 
is Jesus Christ." 1 Cor. iii. 11. Again, the apostle 
writes: "And are built upon the foundation of the 
apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the 



268 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

chief corner-stone." Eph. ii. 20. But God himself 
speaks of his Son as the sure foundation: "There- 
fore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion 
for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious 
corner-stone, a sure foundation : he that believeth 
shall not make haste." Isa. xxviii. 16. The apostle 
Peter calls the Saviour " a living stone, disallowed 
indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious." 

Since, then, the rock referred to is the rock Christ, 
the verses we are now considering contain an addi- 
tional argument for the security of the believer. He 
that hath builded on Him, shall not be confounded. 
Eternal truth is pledged, that his house shall not fall, 
that his religion shall not fail. He is " a workman 
that needeth not to be ashamed." The building that 
he has erected shall stand; the tempests will roar 
around it, and beat upon it, in vain; the torrents will 
fume, and fret, and dash against it, in vain; the 
floods will seek to undermine it, and sap its founda- 
tion, in vain. 

Second. The believer will be sorely tried ; his reli- 
gion will be severely tested. A storm will come, "dis- 
covering the foundation unto the neck." Hab. iii. 13. 
"Every man's work shall be made manifest; for the 
day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by 
fire ; and the fire shall try every man's work, of what 
sort it is." 1 Cor. iii. 13. The rain that descends 
from heaven, is most probably typical of the trials 
that come directly from the hand of God; such as 
famine, pestilence, personal sickness, loss of friends, 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 269 

&c. The floods, which descended first from heaven, 
but have been defiled and polluted with soil and mud, 
most probably refer to trials permitted by God, but 
which are received through earthly channels; such as 
persecutions, slander, personal violence at the hands 
of the wicked, &c. &c. The tempest that beats upon 
the house, is surely the furious assault of "the prince 
of the power of the air." The believer then may 
expect to be tried by God, by the world, and by 
Satan. He has nowhere a promise of a life of ease, 
of freedom from trial, tribulation, and distress. His 
Master was "a man of sorrows, and acquainted with 
grief." "The servant is not better than his lord." 
If these things were done in the green tree, what may 
be expected in the dry? When John, in his vision, 
saw " a great multitude clothed with white robes, and 
palms in their hands," he was told, "these are they 
which came out of great tribulation, and have washed 
their robes, and made them white in the blood of the 
Lamb." no! the believer has nowhere been told 
that his house shall not be exposed to the ravage of 
the flood, and the desolation of the storm. But 
blessed be God, he has been promised that "the 
gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Our great 
concern should not be, whether trials and afflictions 
await us; not whether the tempest will come; but 
whether we have a good building on a sure founda- 
tion, that will defy the fury of the elements, and the 
sweeping of the torrents. 
24 



270 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

"While I draw this fleeting breath, 
When my heart-strings break in death, 
When I soar to worlds unknown, 
See thee on thy judgment throne, 
Rock of ages, cleft for me, 
Let me hide myself in thee" 

"Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I." 
"Let not the water-flood overflow me, neither let the 
deep swallow me up." 

"When rising floods my soul o'erflow, 
When sinks my heart in waves of woe; 
Jesus, thy timely aid impart, 
And raise my head and cheer my heart." 

Third. Not only must the foundation be of rock, 
but the bond between it and the house must be good, 
in order that the house may be secure. In like 
manner, the union must be close between Christ and 
the believer, so that the believer may be able to 
stand in the hour of trial and temptation. The two 
illustrations of our Saviour have then another point 
of resemblance. It is the union of the branch with 
the vine that makes it fruitful. It is the firm, indis- 
soluble connection of the house with its foundation 
that makes it strong. It matters not how solid the 
rock may be, the building will have no stability 
unless it is closely bonded with that rock. It must 
be "fitly framed together," and fitly united to its 
base; there must be proportion and symmetry m all 
the Christian graces, and a close "sealing" to Christ, 
« with that Holy Spirit of promise." 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 271 



THE FOOLISH MAN. 



" And every one that heareth these sayings of 
mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a 
foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 
and the rain descended and the floods came, and the 
winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: 
and great was the fall of it." (Verses 26, 27.) 

These verses point backward to the 22d and 23d, 
and explain the nature and cause of the self-deception 
of the persons there described. They have a building 
in which they trust, but it is upon a slippery and un- 
stable foundation. It is upon the shifting sand, not 
upon the immovable rock. Or, dropping the figure, 
they have a hope in which they trust, but this hope 
does not rest upon the rock Christ, and their good 
deeds and external morality are appropriately re- 
presented by the sand, the particles of which may be 
composed of the best materials; but there is no bond, 
no cement binding them all together, and giving 
them coherency, compactness, and solidity. So it 
is with good works which do not proceed from love 
for Christ. There is no life-giving principle per- 
vading them all, and shaping them into one com- 
pact, indivisible whole. It is said of these self-de- 
ceivers, that they did mighty works in the name, but 
not in the love of Christ. And as the sand is liable 
to be drifted by every breeze, and swept away by 
every flood, so they are liable to be "tossed to and 
fro, and carried away with every wind of doctrine;" 



272 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

and to be drifted off from their Christian profession 
by every tide of passion, prejudice, and sinful in- 
clination. 

The verses we are considering connect also both 
■with the 17th and 18th verses. The hearer and 
not the doer of the word, has done a part, but the 
least part of his duty. He has listened to the truth. 
So the barren tree had done a part, but the least part 
of its duty. It had put forth leaves and blossoms. 
And as these excited the hope of abundance of fruit, 
so the listening to God's word gives promise of being 
affected and profited thereby. The tree and the man 
both fail to fulfil the expectations that they had 
created. The "end" of both "is to be burned." 

Reader, may you and I " not be forgetful hearers, 
but doers also of the work," that we may be " blessed 
in our deeds." May we build our hope upon the sure 
rock Christ, and not upon the shifting sand of our 
own righteousness ; that we may be fixed and stable 
in all our principles and actions, and not " wavering 
like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed." 
" Unto Him that is able to keep" us "from falling, 
and to present" us " faultless before the presence of 
his glory with exceeding joy ; to the only wise God 
our Saviour be glory and majesty, dominion and pow- 
er, both now and ever. Amen." 

EFFECT UPON THE AUDIENCE. 
"And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these 
sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine : 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 273 

For he taught them as one having authority, and not 
as the Scribes." (Verses 28, 29.) 

The audience were amazed, astonished, it may be 
awed and terrified by the dignity, boldness, and divine 
energy with which he spake. But we are not told that 
their consciences were reached, and their hearts af- 
fected by the wonderful truths which they had heard. 
Their understandings were enlightened in the know- 
ledge of divine things, but we know not that the 
truth was received in the love of it. Probably, some 
of his hearers afterwards formed part of that fierce 
mob, which cried, "Crucify him, crucify him.'' 
But notwithstanding all this, the great doctrines pro- 
claimed on that day, from that mountain in Galilee, 
have been studied, and loved, and cherished, for more 
than eighteen hundred years. They have been read 
on sea and on land, in the wilderness, and in the city, 
in the hovel, and in the palace. They have rebuked 
the proud, and given grace to the humble ; they have 
exposed the hypocrites, and cheered the hearts of the 
sincere; they have brought down the lofty looks of 
the ostentatious, the vain, and the self-seeking, and 
have established the hope of the lowly in heart ; they 
have swept away the sandy foundation of trust in 
self-righteousness, and have taught men to build upon 
the rock Christ. Yea, they have affected the senti- 
ments, the views, the opinions, and the feelings, of 
the whole race of mankind. Heathen emperors have 
read and admired them ; heathen moralists have 
copied them and incorporated them in their systems 
24* 



274 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

of religion. Poets and orators have drawn their in- 
spiration from them ; statesmen have quoted from 
them in their papers. Even infidels have extolled 
them ; Rousseau has been their most eloquent pane- 
gyrist. Voltaire could find nothing in them to sneer 
at. Paine thought them unfit for his ribaldry. The 
•whole earth has felt and acknowledged their influence. 
There is probably not a corner of it that has not re- 
ceived, at least some straggling rays from that bright 
light, which the Son of God kindled on that obscure 
mountain in Galilee. 

Here, then, is encouragement for the gospel min- 
istry. The poor preacher often feels with the dis- 
couraged prophet, that his preaching has been "as 
a very lovely song of one that has a pleasant voice, 
and can play well upon an instrument ; for they hear 
the words but they do them not." Let him remem- 
ber, however, that neither did his Master's sermon, 
so far as we know, produce any immediate effect. 
But in the end, the results have been more glorious 
than from the teaching of all the philosophers and 
all the moralists the world has ever produced. Let 
him remember that God has said, "for as the rain 
cometh down, and the snow, from heaven, and re- 
turneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and 
maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed 
to the sower, and bread to the eater: so shall ray 
word be that goeth forth out of my mouth ; it shall 
not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that 
which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing 
whereto I sent it." 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 275 

TEACHING OF THE SCRIBES. 

The evil of the teaching of the scribes did not con- 
sist so much in its direct falsity, as in its perversion of 
the truth ; not so much in promulgating new and 
erroneous principles, as in making a wrong applica- 
tion of the old and the right. The most wicked and 
dangerous doctrines assumed, in their system, the 
form of necessary inferences from the laws laid down 
by God himself. Thus, God had said, " Thou shalt 
love thy neighbour as thyself;" and they drew from 
this command, the sinful inference that they might 
lawfully and properly hate their enemies. God en- 
joined alms-giving, fasting, and prayer, as duties; 
hence, they concluded that these were meritorious 
services, deserving the approbation of man and the 
favour of heaven. Moses permitted divorce, in cer- 
tain cases, but required that a writing of divorcement 
should be given to the cast-off wife. This was done 
for her benefit, security, and protection. But they 
inferred that the giving of this writing was all that 
was necessary to legalize divorce, and to justify the 
husband in his desertion of his wife. So that through 
their perverted construction of the Mosaic law, that 
which was intended for the protection of the poor 
woman, became the source of the greatest prejudice 
to her. God had said, "ye shall not swear by my 
name falsely." They laid all the stress upon the 
word "wawe," and hence, concluded that they might 
innocently use any form of oath which did not in- 



276 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

volve the dreadful name of Jehovah. The rule for 
the magistrate, in the redress of injuries, wantonly 
and maliciously inflicted, was, "an eye for an eye, 
and a tooth for a tooth." But they deduced from 
this rule for the executive officer, the right of private 
individuals to retaliate blow for blow, and wrong for 
wrong. And so, in regard to every other law and 
principle of justice, they perverted their plain and 
obvious meaning, put a false gloss or false construc- 
tion upon them, or drew a false conclusion from them. 
Heretics, in every age of the world, have pursued 
identically the same course as that of the Scribes in 
the days of our Saviour. Heresy has ever crept 
stealthily in, not boldly proclaiming its infamous 
doctrines, but twisting and perverting the truth, 
making wrong applications of, and drawing false 
inferences from the law of God, either written in the 
heart and conscience, or else in his own Book Divine. 
It is this insidious approach of error, and its insidious 
perversions, that make it so potent and so pernicious. 
Nature itself teaches us that perverted good is the 
worst form of evil. The noble stream, confined 
within its natural channel, blesses and fertilizes the 
valley through which it flows; but when it has broken 
over its boundaries, it becomes the desolating 
flood — the messenger of God's wrath and vengeance. 
The fire on the hearth is among the cherished me- 
mories in all after life, of the dear old homestead. 
But that same element, when changed from its na- 
tural use of comfort and utility, is one of the most 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 277 

fearful agents of ruin and destruction. Who has not 
enjoyed the fresh, invigorating breath of the morn- 
ing, and the cool, refreshing breeze of evening? But 
who does not shrink back with terror upon witnessing 
the ravages of the storm and the tornado? Who 
does not fear the air he breathes, when every gale 
comes loaded with miasma, or tainted with pestilence? 
How soothing and how nourishing is the breast of the 
healthful mother to her helpless babe, and how in- 
jurious and pernicious is it when she is sickly and 
diseased? And if we turn from the physical to the 
moral world, we find the same evil consequences flow- 
ing from perverted good. What is pride but inordi- 
nate self-esteem ; fear, but exaggerated prudence ; 
anger, but excess of the principle of self-protection; 
depraved inclinations, but perverted natural ap- 
petites ? And just as the best of medicines become 
the worst of poisons, when given in excess or wrongly 
applied, so the passions and emotions implanted in 
our bosoms for wise and good purposes, become 
sources of sin and evil, when allowed to become inordi- 
nate, or to be misdirected. The bitterest hate is that 
which results from estranged affection. No enemy is 
so malignant as the alienated friend. Hence the 
hatred of the sinner for holiness and God. The facul- 
ties which were given him, in order that he might 
glorify his Creator, have been perverted and prosti- 
tuted to selfish indulgences and unholy pursuits. 
Hence he hates the Being who gave him the powers 
which he has abused and misapplied. And just in 



278 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

proportion to the vigour of his natural endowments, 
and the extent of his attainments, will be the depth 
of his rancour and enmity towards God. The great- 
est nuisance to society, and the greatest foe to all 
that is noble, good, and true, is the man of high and 
cultivated intellect, who has perverted his powers 
from the service of God, and consecrated them to the 
world, the flesh, and the devil. The enlargement of 
the mind by reading, observation, and reflection, when 
it fails to deepen reverence for God, and abhorrence 
for sin, is sure to enlarge the capacity for all manner 
of wickedness and crime. 

The formalism of the Scribes and Pharisees resulted 
from their perversion of the teaching of Moses and 
the prophets. With these illustrious teachers, certain 
duties were expected to flow necessarily from love to 
God and love to man, and to be the spontaneous act- 
ings out of the dictates of the renewed heart. The 
outward act was right, because the inner principle was 
right. The fruit was good, because the tree was 
good. Hence the great thing with "the inspired men 
of old" was to have all sound within, that all might be 
sound without. The Scribes and Pharisees perverted 
all this. They looked at the act, and cared nothing 
for the motive that prompted to the act. Good 
deeds, instead of being regarded as evidences of holi- 
ness of heart, were regarded as holiness itself. And 
thus, if the walls were whited, they cared not for the 
rottenness and dead men's bones within the sepul- 
chre. Naturally then, they cared more for rites and 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 279 

ceremonies than for the breathings of the soul after 
God. Naturally then, they thought more of formal 
observances than of the hungering and thirsting of 
the soul after righteousness. And so the religion 
taught by the Scribes and illustrated by the Phari- 
sees, was a stupid formalism. It was doubtless 
adorned by many seemingly good deeds, but these 
all were prompted by vain, selfish, and unholy 
motives. It may have had much external loveliness, 
but this was only the hectic glow of health on the 
cheek, while disease and corruption were preying on 
the vitals within. 

TEACHING OF OUR SAVIOUR. 

We will only venture to notice a few of the marked 
peculiarities of our Saviour's instruction. First: The 
most remarkable characteristic of this teaching was, 
no doubt, that which most impressed the auditory, 
viz. the power and authority with which it was 
uttered. He set aside and pronounced false the tra- 
ditions of the elders, and the doctrines which had 
been received so long as infallibly true ; and the only 
reason that he deigned to give for so doing, was his 
own declaration that they were wrong. He put his 
own "but I say unto you" above all the command- 
ments of the most revered teachers and authoritative 
doctors of the law. This calm assumption of power 
and authority, instead of exciting the indignation of 
his hearers, seems only to have astonished them. 
Doubtless, there was a majesty in his manner, and a 



280 CONSIDERATION OF THE 

divine energy in the tones of his voice, which awed 
them into silence, and hushed their murmuring at the 
boldness of his words. The lips that spake were those 
of God manifest in the flesh, and their utterances must 
have thrilled upon the ears of the assembled multi- 
tude. 

Second: The personality of his remarks must have 
produced a powerful effect upon men accustomed to 
the cold, tame, and lifeless teaching of the Scribes. 
He did not speak to the crowd, but to each individual 
in the crowd; and every one present must have felt 
himself personally addressed. There is no one word 
directed to the whole assembly; "you," "ye," 
"your," "their," "thee," and "thine," are the 
words employed. There is no dealing in generalities, 
all is particular, pointed, and pungent. There is no 
vague hinting at false teachers; the Scribes and 
Pharisees are designated by name. There is no 
indefinite reference to the errors taught; they are 
plainly mentioned, denounced, and refuted. There 
is no ambiguous allusion to sins of practice; their 
nature and character are unmistakably defined. The 
whole discourse is earnest, faithful, and solemn, and 
well calculated to alarm the conscience, and to drive 
the sinner from his refuge of lies to the only Ark of 
hope and safety. 

Third: The spiritual nature of the sermon. It 
recognizes the great truth that holiness in the soul 
makes holiness in the life. Hence the right heart, 
the right motive, the right principle, the right opinion ; 



SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 281 

these are the things enjoined and insisted upon, to 
produce right conduct and right deeds. It lays the 
axe at the root of the evil. It shows that the sinful 
thought causes the sinful act. It teaches that there 
may be adultery of the soul as well as of the body. 
It reminds us that God sees in secret, and scruti- 
nizes the secret purpose, as well as the outward 
manifestation. It makes his glory the ultimate object 
of all religious worship. It requires love to him to be 
the foundation of all virtue. His righteousness is 
to be the first thing sought. His honour is to be the 
paramount consideration in every religious duty, in 
every secular pursuit and engagement. Finally, it 
builds a temple to his praise upon the rock Christ — 
the corner-stone, elect, precious, tried. 

Fourth: The simplicity of the style and language. 
This wonderful sermon, with all its sublimity, depth, 
power, and comprehensiveness, is so simple that a 
child can understand it. There is no pomp of diction, 
no straining after effect, no rhetorical flourish, no 
extravagant figure, no wild allusion, no fanciful com- 
parison. It is clothed in the plainest words; it 
draws its illustrations from objects familiar to all, 
and understood by all. The most unlettered peasant 
can grasp its meaning, the wisest philosopher can 
never exhaust it. The most careless reader can see 
its beauty, the most attentive student will fail to 
discover all its loveliness. Its richness, sweetness, ful- 
ness, adaptation to the wants and condition of man, 
may be partially understood now; eternity alone can 
25 



282 SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 

reveal them in all their perfection. Is it strange then, 
that those who heard the first time this discourse, so 
simple and yet so sublime, were powerfully impressed 
by it? Is it strange that they were astonished and 
awed by it? If we, coldly reading it at the distance 
of so many centuries, can find no language where- 
with to express our admiration, what must have been 
the emotions of those who heard the living, animated 
speaker, and that speaker the Son of God, the 
Saviour of the world? We can form no conception 
of their sensations, but we can, in the sincerity of our 
heart, echo back the words spoken on another, and 
most probably on this occasion also, "Never man 
spake like this man." 



THE END. 



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